


Laundromat

by InsominiacArrest



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Smut, Trauma, now with, with Jasper and Lapis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:56:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4342175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsominiacArrest/pseuds/InsominiacArrest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two stubborn girls with some issues meeting at inconvenient times in their lives, mostly to do some laundry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Detergent

War

It was the middle of the day on a Thursday, the heat beat down on the street like an oppressive hand weighing down the inhabitants into droopy caricatures of themselves.

Peridot grumbled to herself as she made her way down the street in her sweatshirt and last pair of shorts. It was finally time to do her laundry after being reduced to her swimsuit as undergarments.

She makes her way to the tiny laundry mat off of University Lane, rumor was it was both the most gross and overpriced but Peridot could respect that, seeing as she too could bear that description...and it was literally the closest one.

She makes her way into the small laundromat only to find no shopkeeper there, as expected, and two of the main washing machines with ‘out of order’ signs on them. She understood why it was so unpopular.

She rolled her eyes and turned down the next aisle for the most reliable washing machine she'd used up to that point. Old no button for the left nozzle.

Her eyebrows rise when she approaches it only to find the only other patron in the shop sitting in front of the hatch. Peridot examines her, her face is in her hands and shoulders shaking slightly.

“Hey.” Peridot voices. The girl doesn’t look up, caught up in her good cry while watching a dryer spin round.

“Hey.” She repeats. The blue haired teen finally looks up, water leaking out the side of her eyes but framed by two eyebrows making an angry V shape.

“I’m busy right now.” She bites, looking her in the eye defiantly.

“What kind of person…?” Peridot fumes, but takes a deep breath through her nose then evens out her tone. “That’s my washing machine.” She picks up her garbage bag full of laundry and shakes it.

“Find another one.” The girl snaps, looking away and staring adamantly across from her into the tumbling spin of the dryer, multicolored and rumbling like a storm cloud about to break.

“What,” Peridot was not up for this, her last sweater was so itchy she was in a constant state of shifting her torso and rearranging her arms.

“Do you have some sort of,” Peridot gestures at her, “problem?”

“Are you asking or insulting?”

“Insulting. Move.”

The blue haired girl stuck out her tongue at her and leaned back wholly on the contraption.

“Ugh! I don’t have time for this.” She goes back over to the steady but leaky secondary washing machine. She dumps her entire wardrobe into it and starts it in a hurry.

“You’re a jerk you know!” Peridot calls to the stranger who was still there. An ironic assertment since Peridot was not known for her warm heart.

“You’re wearing a bathing suit under your clothes!” The girl retorts. Peridot grabs her sweater and covers the swimsuit strap, but it was too late anyway.

“Yeah, well, I’m doing laundry now.”

“Ha. Well, I’ll alert the presses, slob is forced to find soap when they run out of underwear.”

“You don’t know me.” It was completely true. “And it would have been sooner if weepy eyed you hadn't found this the best place to break down in.”

“Erg!” The girl erupts, “I don’t need this right now.” The beep of the dryer resounds like the buzz of a cicada, and the girl flies to it, yanking the door open and grabbing her clothes.

Peridot glares at her from the side, only forced to look away when the girl is digging out a pair of blue panties and Peridot blushes and looks anywhere else.

Her phone rings when she’s close to done storing her clothes back in the neat little crab-themed bag she brought.

“Hello. This is Lapis.” She answers as Peridot watches with interest.

“Yes, I know.” She begins in a small voice. “Don’t yell at me, I know!” Her voice trembles with anger into the phone as she puts the bag on her hip and saunters out.

“Have a nice life loser!” The girl calls back over her shoulder to Peridot as she leaves. Her kind of girl.

“Don’t cry on anything on the way out!” Peridot responds with her hands on her hips.

She sighs when the back of the girls skirt disappears from the window. Why did she have to fight with every person she met? Cute girls in particular.

She tries not to dwell on it and gets her text book out instead, she had work to do, she always had work to do.

\----------------

Peridot carried her bedsheets and pillowcase in a saggy mess in her arms, it coated her skin in a sugary soda and made her regret a multitude of life decisions, such as drinking Mountain Dew in bed while playing Skyrim.

The walk over was deceivingly hot, and she in turn looked like a hot mess. Her usual top knot was askew and her clothes an amalgamation of end of the semester desperation. Black half shorts and a bro tank over a tie-dye shirt, clothing to fit the black hole of stress and nerves that was her body at the moment.

However, even she wasn’t going to lie in dripping wet carbonated bedsheets.

Peridot walked into the little shop in a slump, going to the only open washing machine on a Saturday, the place abuzz with noise and customers. Peridot slipped in the coins and dumped the plain green sheets in the wash, pouring in detergent absently.

Of course she spots the blue haired wonder a few steps away, her back to her. Normally Peridot wouldn't bother but she finds herself speaking despite herself.

“You work here or something?” She says to the girls back. She looks around curiously for the voice and then turns around in surprise.

“Oh. It’s you. Swimsuit girl.” Lapis, her name Peridot remembered, eyed her up and down. “As put together as ever I see.”

“Do you produce the water for the wash? Like they pay you one cent per tear and you fill up each machine.” She returns snidely.

Lapis rolls her eyes at her, and turns away. They ignore each other for the rest of the spin cycle, Peridot on her phone and the girl with a small book. Peridot guesses it’s a romance novel.

When Peridot retrieves her sheets and pillowcase from the appliance, she turns back to her, staring fixedly.

“What?” Peridot finally says deadpan when Lapis doesn't look away.

“It’s a cliche.”

“Again, what?”

“You’re pillowcase is Superman symbols?” Peridot looks down at her well worn superman pillowcase from 10th grade. "Such a nerd thing."

Peridot readjusts her hair.

“It’s a classic,” she justifies defensively, “why so judgemental?”

“I’m not!" Lapis pauses, trying to collect herself or change the topic, "...marvel is better.”

“DC is the original! Marvel just copies their stuff. Even popular characters are knock offs, like Deadpool.”

“Yeah, but Deadpool turned out a better character. Which is true of all Marvel personalities.” Lapis crosses her arms triumphantly.

It was the weirdest, but not first, scwabble Peridot had gotten into of Marvel vs DC.

Halfway through, Peridot starts to snicker.

“What?” It was Lapis’s turn to ask.

“Well one, you're a total nerd. Who would have guessed.”

“You have a top knot and Minecraft key chain!”

“Which are completely cool. Aaand,” she gets back on topic, “you're still talking to me even though your clothes are done. And you don’t like me. Don’t you have stuff to do?”

“And you have a lot to do on this Saturday I take it? Maybe I’m waiting for you to leave.” Lapis replies unbelievingly.

“So you can follow me or what?” Peridot says half jokingly.

“Pfft, you want me to follow you? Desperate.”

“No. But I do have the golden age of Superman comics, totally better than anything Stan Lee has done.”

“Take that back! Also… not interested. I don’t go out with lonely nerds.”

“I wasn’t!... Fine, I’ll leave so you can get back to whatever, crying, lying to yourself about good media.” Peridot puffs out her face and grabs her already dry clothes to get out of there, dejected. Cute girls were jerks.

Lapis seems hot and angry, but her face softens slightly, Peridot makes a face close to a snarl. It was too late.

“I didn’t want a date. I don’t befriend mean girls with the personality of a soggy saltines anyway.” That was the last time she almost reached out Peridot decided.

“Okay, maybe I was over the…” Peridot doesn’t let her finish, and kicks over Lapis’s meager amount of clothes into the discharge of the leaky washing machine.

“That was uncalled for!” She calls at Peridots back furiously, “I was trying apolo... I mean, I'll literally have to wash those all over again! You're the worst person, Peridot.”

Peridot is already out the door and making a very obscene gesture through the Laundromat window, Lapis sticks her tongue out at her with similar distaste.

\--------------------

Peridot shows up exactly 15 minutes early to her class and sits in the second to front row, she would normally sit in the front row but she had mellowed out since Freshman year. Much more relaxed, the second row.

She waits impatiently for class to begin despite doing this to herself, playing with her pencil and checking her phone incessantly.

The professor showed up five minutes before the ten O’Clock start date, something Peridot frowned upon slightly. She forgave her instantly though when the women turned around and smiled at the room.

The rumors were true. She was beautiful. Thick pink hair swooped in enormous curls and a tall full body dressed in whites and pinks, and smile like a smooth sunrise. And even Peridot, now and then, enjoyed beautiful things.

The rest of the room soon filled in with the last students straggling in for the first day, Mrs. Quartz stood in front of the board and wrote the name of the class in red white board marker: **War, Peace and Strategic Defense.**

It at least sounded interesting for her ‘Human Context’ core curriculum. One last humanities course before she never have to write another essay again.

“Alright everyone, my name is Rose Quartz, Professor Quartz for you, and we’ll be going over the syllabus today.” Peridot had the syllabus at the ready on her desk, two copies, highlighted.

“No late work will be allowed, be on time, and no cell phones except on the last day, when we can all take a selfie together.” She let out a tinkling laugh that filled the room, Peridot could feel the class collectively swoon. How embarrassing (for them).

“Second of all, here are your TA’s, you will meet with them once per week for recitation depending on what group you're signed up for.” She gestures to her left where three women sat at attention.

“This is Garnet,” a dark skinned women with an afro, serious expression and glasses stood up and nodded her head at the whole class. A businesswoman, Peridot could respect that.

“Amethyst.” A purple haired east-asian young women took a bow before the class before winking at them.

“and Pearl.” A very slim graceful looking girl stood up primly and waved at everyone as if she’s the Queen. That was her TA, Peridot arches her eyebrows unimpressed.

“And Steven!” A young brunette boy bursts out from behind the podium, doing jazz hands and presenting an excited grin.

Professor Quartz laughs and pats his head as she turns to him, “and this is my son Steven, he’ll be visiting now and then since it’s summer vacation.”

“and there isn’t much to do.” He contributes good naturedly. Peridot rolls her eyes, she did not need a comical sideshow to disrupt her unfortunate summer-mester.

She would remind the teacher to get back on course material and resists the urge to raise her hand. She was mellowed. Right.

She throws her hand in the air.

“Questions at the end. Look to the first page on attendance…”

She goes over what they were covering, homework each week, big final project, blah, blah, Peridot takes notes with a pointed boredom.

When the end of the period came Peridot raised her hand calmly,

“Yes?” Professor Quartz turns to her with a smile.

“What’s the curve.”

“No curve for this class.” She reassures, the class seems collectively pleased, Peridot frowns.

“And what is your policy on electronics?”

“People may have computers, but have to sit in the back.”

“And who should I talk to about….” Peridot had a list of questions she asked every semester in a business like fashion, she was paying for these darn classes she better get her money’s worth.

“Let’s take a few other questions.” the Professor shuts her down as they usually do. Peridot settles in, ready to wait.

Some crods ask obvious questions for the next bit of the period until Peridot is done with their non-syllabus reading asses.

At the last minute she raises her hand,

“And what’s your-” _bfffff_ Someone makes a fart noise from the back of the room, _obviously fake_ and the class erupts in laughter, Peridot goes red in the face, “what’s your-” _bfffff_ more laughter.

“I said,” _bfffff_ ,

“Alright everyone settle down.” Peridot is grateful towards her when the teacher scolds them, damn right settle down.

“What’s your policy for disruption?” She changes her question, the class actually laughs on her side this time, Peridot is pleased with herself.

“Not tolerated, mostly.” the teacher beams. Ugh.

The class was dismissed, Peridot left immediately, avoiding her usual round of talking to the Professor after class.

She was hot and uncomfortable, who needed this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventual fluff and bein' cute, story exploring how these two characters could relate and how they function as personalities. Multi-Chaptered (probably like 3).
> 
> Future me: I am dirty liar and it is almost 40k words. Life is funny.


	2. Fabric Softner

Peace

Peridot lifted the hood of her rain jacket, covering her head from oncoming downpour, cold droplets ran down her neck and into her shoes, soggy and biting. Perfect. This was just perfect. The rain had started to beat down on the city in torrents, her jeans were getting soaked and everything was terrible.

Peridot glances at her options, a Starbucks or a Fedex building. She heads to the Starbucks. It was unfortunately full when she reaches the destination, and Peridot is not good with crowds. She found them uncomfortable and overwhelming, her senses going haywire in the chatter and constant buzz.

She turns to the next building close to it, the old laundromat. Of course it was the laundromat.

She recognizes two of her classmates tucked away in there, all of them headed home at the same time so it was no surprise some of them ended up in the back of the dimly lit building to escape from the storm with her.

Peridot situated herself as close to the wall next to the Starbucks as possible, close enough to mooch the free wifi off of the store.

She gets online and visits two different chat rooms and starts in on her homework. She also checks her UPS packages in a stressful state, very stressful for her as she had already lost two of them in the mail.

One of them even said ‘arrived.’ Peridot can feel her blood pressure rise like a medical bill.

It’s a half an hour in when Peridot notices the familiar face of her favorite gem of a personality.

Lapis is in the corner across from her, crosslegged with a textbook on her knees. She catches Peridot’s eye, they both instantaneously express a look of disgust, Lapis screwing up her face into a crumpled piece of paper and Peridot squinting her eyes at her tersely.

The rain is a waterfall outside, almost a solid curtain of liquid bearing down, Peridot watches it fixedly through the window, almost bored from her online ventures. So many crods to insult, but she was only so much of a well spring of correctional facts on Five Nights at Freddy's.

She can just make out the chatting of her War, Peace and Strategic Defence fellow students. They’re discussing how hot the Professor is, Peridot rolls her eyes and scoots away from their lewd comments.

Peridot is bored. She also finds herself closer to Lapis, just close enough to make out the name of the book she’s reading.

“The textbook!” Security and Defense by Michael Bayer, and also the required reading for her course. She needed that.

Lapis looks up with an arched eyebrow.

“It is a textbook.” She says with weight on each word.

“How did you get that? The bookstore was out and the shipping was a week!” Peridot blirts out bitterly.

Lapis gives her a small smile, somewhere between endearing and smug, “I have my ways.”

Peridot purses her lips, “are you for real?”

She sighs, “my uncle owns a bookstore and happened to have one in the collections.”

Peridot forces her face into something appealing, “do you, do you have anymore?”

Lapis shrugs, having the decency to look regretful, “sorry. Last one, uh, buddy.” She also has the decency to blush lightly at not remembering her name.

“It’s Peridot. Peridot Farid.”

“Hmm. Middle east?”

“...Iranian-Israeli American.” She says, staring at the ceiling, “It’s a long story.” Which was a true statement, mostly having to do with ‘operation Magic Carpet’ and a long family history.

A long pause stretches between them like an expanse of trampolene meant to be traversed.

“Oh. Right." She starts, "Lapis Lazuli.” She introduces herself, finally putting out one delicate hand to be shook. Peridot reaches out and takes the girls surprisingly fragile hand, her long fingers engulfing the others slim digits. They shake.

Lapis turns her face back to the words on the page, perhaps unable to interact when they weren’t exchanging animosity.

  
“One more thing.” Peridot says with dawning realization, “you’re in Professor Quartzs class?”

Lapis looks back up at her with a glint in her eyes, a mischievous grin expanding slowly on her lips. She takes her arm and puts her mouth in the crook of her elbow. She blows a raspberry.

Peridot scrunches up her nose, “you!”

Lapis laughs in delight, Peridot can even hear the other male students chuckling to themselves across the room.

“That was so embarrassing!” Lapis laughs again.

_Bffff_

“And you kept doing it, where do you even sit?”

 _Bffff_ , the noise reverberates around the silent dim room, the morose rain crashing across the ground, and there, delicate, gorgeous, Lapis filling the silence with fart noises.

“I can’t” Peridot finds herself giggling lightly despite herself. The situation was ridiculous. “Can’t believe.” Her shoulders shaking as a deep laugh bubbling up.

She suppresses it. “Why would you?”

“Because it’s funny!” _Bffff_ ,

“Are you six?”

Lapis is laughing at her own joke almost to the point of little teardrops forming at the edges of her eyes. Peridot can’t believe this. Believe this girl.

She blinks at her and finds her heart doing funny little palpitations. That can’t be healthy.

“Besides, you talk sooo much in class.”

Peridot pouts, Lapis thought she was uncool, “I’m not a trust fund baby wasting her education on not working. This is what I do, _my job_. So what if the class doesn’t get that.” She hunches her shoulders over as if to protect herself, and she doesn’t stare Lapis in the eye.

She jumps when she feels a gentle touch on her leg, “I’m no trust fund baby either.” She inputs, “I think what you do is…”

“Uncool, yeah.”

“No! The stuff was just funny."

“So what?” Peridot grumbles and goes back over to her corner of the room.

She spends the next ten minutes in abject internal conflict. Shifting her weight from one hip to the next as she sits with her heavy computer on her lap.

On one hand, Lapis thought she was lame and it was best to cut it off as soon as possible, on the other hand the girl was just…really great.

Peridot was preparing herself to go back out into the river of water to avoid how awkward this had become when a crack and rumble pitches through the air like a whip.

The sight of a giant lightning strike illuminates the sky like nature's strobe light encapsulating every inch of the slanted street in a freeze frame of white.

The lights go out. Peridot finds herself blinking rapidly into a new darkness.

“Awe man.” The boy in a snapback voices. The three other people in the shop grumble and make faces as they zip up their coats they had been drying in the machines.

Peridot puts her laptop back in her backpack. She doesn’t get up.

She can’t pinpoint why, but she gets mesmerized by the rain again. Her apartment was a street away, it would be just as dark as the rest of the road.

The ding of the bell on the laundromats door sounds off as the other individuals depart into the grey dizzyingly cold night. People fill the streets, staring at each other as alien figures trying to navigate a foreign landscape.

“Hey.” The word sends a shiver up Peridots spine as they interrupts the eerie hush of the power outage.

“Some blackout, huh?” Peridot responds with an ironic half smile. She glances sidelong at the girl, noting her sundress was still damp.

“I’m sorry.”

“Um. Unless you’re Storm over here punishing us mere mortals for hanging out in your Laundromat. Then I think it’s okay.”

“No, what I mean is,” she fidgets, staring at her hands and swaying slightly, “I’m sorry. I’ve been kind of…mean. You can borrow my textbook or something anytime.” She tries to hand her the book.

Peridot blinks rapidly, her face going slack in disbelief at this development. Lapis looked dejected, even as Peridot took the book with a ‘thanks.’ Lapis turns around,

Peridot puts the heels of her hand up to her lips, she blows, letting out a very pathetic _bff_.

“It _was_ funny.” She asserts, and then snickers, Lapis Lazuli in turn laughs, almost hysterically, turning around and giving an open mouthed guffaw. Peridot’s brain buzzes with _I made her laugh_. It was like winning the lottery.

“That was so pathetic!” She giggles in fits.

“Hey!”

“Oh God sorry, I’m being an asshole again.” She wipes her eyes.

“No, I,” _I like that_ Peridot is on the verge of saying, “I wasn’t exactly compassionate when I found you in here the first time. Sooo, it’s asshole central.”

“I was a little,” she shifts her weight and stares into the rain with Peridot, “embarrassed about that.”

“Itsokay. I wasn’t very nice of me. Mom calls me a robot. Metal heart and all, beep boop,” Peridot rubs the back of her neck uncomfortably.

Thunder rocks the dark landscape, Lapis noticeably jumps and inches towards her.

She blushes and then purses her lips, “it was bound to happen. I actual do come here often so someone was inevitably going to catch me.” She relinquishes.

“Why?” Peridot asks in genuine disbelief, and concern for Lapis’s overall mental health for wanting to visit this rat pit.

Lapis smirks, “don’t sound too understanding gears and gigabytes.”

Peridot feels her hand ghost near Lapis’s hand, she really wants to grab on.

“No, I mean, this place isn’t exactly entertainment central.”

“It’s empty in here a lot. And I like to watch.” She says in a very small voice.

“Um.”

“Watch the _water_...It swirls and rotates, churns, it’s calming. And things come out clean when they were dirty. You put them in grime and all and they come out fresh. I like that.”

Peridot takes the moment to look at Lapis, her cheeks heating up at the look of trepidation and softness that encompasses the other girls features.

“It’s weird, I know.” She laughs.

“No, no. It’s not weird.” Peridot says in a fast rush of words that trip over each other to escape. She wants to wrap the girls petite shoulders in something, or just wrap the whole girl up and take her home in her teeth.

“It’s sweet!”

“Nah. It’s weird. I don’t mind.”

“I like it!”

Lapis chuckles this time, “you’re weird.”

“Yes. Yes, kind of an asshole too.”

Lapis laughs again and it’s a wonderful sound.

“We’re a pair then.”

They stand quietly, the only noise the tip tap of the abating rainfall on the sidewalk, slowly easing.

“Do you need to get home?”

“The power will be on in an hour.” Peridot expresses as she looks at the newsfeed on her phone. “It’s still an hour though.”

“Okay.”

“You want to go home?” Peridot asks in return.

“No.” She looks away adamantly.

Peridot taps her fingers on her leg, searching for something else to say,

“Do you like water?” She cringes, the dumbest question award goes to her.

“Yes!” Lapis projects anyway. “I’m an Oceanography major.”

“So, you’re fond of the ocean.”

“Yeah. I grew up by one.”

“Miss it?”

Lapis nods her head in affirmation, a sad slow gesture of defeat, Peridot can barely stand it.

“I...it’s why I had that, uh, breakdown. It’s hard. Hard here, sometimes.”

“I can, I can take you at some point. To the beach that is.”

Lapis looks up very slowly, “really?” It was a whisper.

“Yeah. I’ve got a car.” Peridot is cringing, she was doing it again, opening herself up to ‘no.’

“Of course!” Lapis grabs her arm and shakes it lightly, “oh Peridot! Nice name theme by the way. That would be, just fantastic!”

Peridot looks down at the shorter girl and clenches every muscle in her body, this couldn’t be real. Her mouth makes an O shape. It couldn’t be real.

“Are you sure?” Lapis asks, but her eyes are already sparkling like an entire solar system is in her head. Or at least Peridot thought so.

“I-I would love to.” Oops, too far, but Lapis doesn’t seem to care.

“Alright! I’ll, I’ll see you tomorrow, and this weekend then?” She asks with a huge smile stretching across her features.

Peridot nods until it feels like her head would fall off and her neck aches, “yes, yes, yes.”

Lapis darts out into the soggy night, now cleared up from the drastic storm that overtook the city. Lapis waves frantically at her and Peridot is too dumbstruck to wave back.

Cute girls were gifts from God. She panics.

She hadn’t shaved in months, did she own a razor? She panics.

Peridot can’t remember if any of her swimsuits were clean. She panics some more.


	3. Spin Cycle

Midterm

Peridot felt a sort of wild elation as she tailed Lapis downed the sidewalk, they approached a brown door with one large window and a curlicue ‘Closed’ sign hanging on the front.

“Shh, stop snickering.” Lapis ordered, despite continuously breaking into fits of giggling herself.

“Just open the door already, I thought you were a criminal mastermind here.”

“I’m working on it,” she assured, her fingers roaming around the handle of the entrance.

“This is so crazy.”

“It’s not that crazy you android.” She grabbed the knob of the door and turned it. Lapis smiled at her smugly. “It’s being a dedicated patron.”

“It wasn’t even locked.” Peridot remarked unimpressed. “What did we expect I guess.”

“C’mon.” Lapis laughed and waved her into the dark room.

Peridot slid into the area, still wary, she wasn’t about to get in trouble for something as stupid as ‘breaking’ into a dramatically neglected laundromat.

She did like to watch Lapis trapse around though, her long legs were reeds that bent across the floor to the second row washing machine.

Peridot itched her stomach, she could still feel sand coating her skin like irritating cake icing that bewildered her at her every turn. Was it in her ear? Bellybutton? Ass? Yes. And who knew how permanent that was.

“Hey, knucklehead.” A hand lodges itself into Peridots hair and rubs. “OMG, you’re hair is like a catacomb where physics goes to die.” She laughs, the air a light with the manic energy of sun, sea and breaking and entering.

“What?”

“It’s just...sticking up. You look like the great pyramids.”

Peridot latched her hands into her hair, supposedly still up in a high bun, but mostly now just up in a mess. She tried to rearrange it but gave up halfway through.

“And you’re any better?” She runs up to Lapis to thread her fingers through the other girls sea salted locks. Of course they floated around her like strands of seaweed, a halo of blue, instead of a pointed bleach blond updo.

“No touching,” She laughs and runs away.

She chases Lapis and jogging around the small place of business. They streak up and down the aisles, crisscrossing the tiled floor childishly as they avoided one another.

Peridot makes a point to not particularly catch up to her.

“Hold on, hold on.” Lapis dug her heels in front of the next washing machine just as Peridot was about to launch her fingers through the other girls regal mess of stiffened bedhead.

“What?”

“Let’s wash our suits in this one. It has the right feel to it.” She chirped, grabbing a large beach towel from the forgotten bag they left at the side of the room.

Peridot felt spots of rose red bloom across her cheeks, the thought of being anywhere close to nude near each other was too much for her.

“Oh, you feel the washing machines now? Should I get electronics services out here.” She covers her embarrassment with words.

“You’re the one with a thing for electronics my friend, I don’t commune with coding.”

“Pfft, or else you’d have a job out of college.”

“Hey! Below the belt.”

“Okay, yeah, just, change.”

It didn’t help she could have sworn she saw Lapis wink at her as the other girl draped herself in the towel and wiggled around underneath it.

Her bathing suit dropped from beneath the towel. Peridot gulped, her eyes darted all around the room unnecessarily.

Lapis seemed to make quick work of putting clothes on, shifting and rearranging herself under the threads, she swirled the towel off to reveal her white sundress already back on.

She picked up the rigid sea swept two piece and dropped it in the compliance, Lapis looked up and tilted her head at Peridot.

“We came here to wash these, remember?”

Peridot shifted, her hands fully splayed out on her thighs like claws. She nodded.

Peridot quickly put on her novelty overly large Breaking Bad T-shirt and proceeded to wrap herself in the same towel to cover up. She struggled to fit on underwear, shorts and all other clothing while keeping on the covering. Why did she agree to this?  
She managed after quite the struggle to take her yellow one piece off and get into a state resembling decent. She brought the suit to the same machine and threw it in.

The girls equally contributed quarters, a total of 1.50 for the small load.

Peridot still felt sand creeping on her skin though, haunting her like granules of irritation past, or maybe it was just Lapis looking at her like the moon, unsettling two large blue eyes like orbs in a sky of white sclera. She suppressed a shiver.

Lapis then turned and roamed around the store as the machine started up in a buzz of a rumbling motor and churning water.

Peridot sat down in front of the window and peered outside onto the empty street illuminated by pools of lamplight. The night felt mildly claustrophobic. Stragglers were distinguishable off in the distance, wandering down the lane like lost leaves in the evening breeze.

Peridot contemplated the slanted street as she listened to Lapis’s feet softly pad around the establishment. When the footsteps paused Peridot turned her head to spot Lapis in the corner glancing into an unmarked cardboard box.

“What is it?” She asked, her voice too loud in the slow lull of the hour.

“Look at this.”

Peridot got up creakily, her tendons aching- still worn out from a day in the sun.

She walked over, the box Lapis stood by appeared to contain forgotten things, change mostly, two worn books, folded clothes, and a speaker set.

“Do you want to listen to something?” Her teeth gleam as she picks up the black box.

“Thieving is a bit much after the _huge_ amount of criminal skills involved in getting in here.”

Lapis gives her a surly look, “I’m not gonna take it, Miss stick up her-”

“Hey!”

“Just gonna use it, give it a purpose. Look at it Peridot, so alone in there. It needs a purpose again. Fulfillment.” She picks up the mechanism and shoves it into Peridots face, “Peridot, I’m so sad, let me have life again.” She danced it around in front of the girls nose to emphasize how ‘sad’ it was.

“Fine.” Peridot huffed as she crosses her arms and looked at the ceiling.

A triumphant smile spreads across the other girls face, large and excitable. She dashed once more to the bag, the only noise the rumble of the washing machine until Lapis plugs the gadget in.

She retrieved her Ipod and placed in the on the receiving dock, the first strings of a popular pop songs cut through the tin air in a din of sugar and base.

Lapis gets up and starts moving her shoulders. Swaying back and forth to the oncoming beat.

Like an ethereal sprite she started to rotate her ankles, spinning and spinning, her eyes closed, skirt blossoming out around her like a whirling Dervish enchanted by God. Or that’s what Peridot felt in awe of.

Lapis ended up twirling up to her, her face a grinning mask of ecstatic energy, she suddenly sang along to the music out of the speakers,

“shut up and dance with me!”

“I didn’t say anything.” Peridot said nonplussed.

Lapis grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. Peridot hesitated, this was way out of her natural habitat. But Lapis was moving her back and forth, locking her arms in a soft grip and small smile.

Peridot tried. She moved her feet back and forth, slowly, achingly trying to keep up with the fast tempo.

She shook and bounced on her heels, carefully. Lapis guided her through it, leading her to the beat of the song playfully, Peridot’s heart beat like a raw drum at every little touch. Peridot felt exposed, breathing hard and dancing in the last shimmer of evening.

It was almost painful, her inners rubbed raw by a girl she was only getting to know.

Peridot stumbled as the other girl shimmied in front of her, she self-consciously touched her arm with her hand and shuffled off to the side.

Lapis touched her shoulder sympathetically before doing a final flourish and jumping onto one of the washing machines, throwing her arms back and posing at the last beat at the song.

Peridot chuckled, “you look ridiculous.”

“I look hot.” She puffed her cheeks out. Peridot can’t respond to that. The next song came on before she had to, by Taylor Swift she recognized. Lapis jumped down and grabbed her wrist, bouncing on her feet and pulling her along,

She sighs, “you’ll owe me.”

“Hey, we studied today, we were at the beach. Beach. And I cracked open the old textbook for you.”

“The midterm is Tuesday.”

“Dance with me.”

She takes her hand, they swing around the laundromat in somewhat of a frenzy of hormones and the smell of stuffy maybe-mold in the laundromat. They cavort energetically to 'Shake it Off' until the song ends and slow song comes on, syrupy and crooning from the speakers like a loose thread trying to pull them together. They stare at eachother breathlessly.

Peridot’s eyes flick over Lapis’s hands, her arms, her waist. Dare she?

“I, I brought, a game if we want to pass the time.” Smooth.

“You don’t want to dance anymore?”

“Just some chess for awhile. We have time.” And that was true, their clothes were nearly done in the washer, but still had to go through the dryer.

“Chess?” She snorts, “dork.”

“Those sound like fighting words.” She arches her eyebrows. “I mean if you don’t know how to play…” She challenges.

“Alright, alright, I’ll bite.”

Lapis walks over to the speakers and and fiddled with them, Peridot began to set up the game. It had been a long day, one that drained her energy, soaked up by the sun and sea salt. But being around Lapis around was like an electric shock, a chug of Monster drink she was known to partake in.

Classical music came on like a relaxing unfolding piece of paper, Lapis traipsed over and plopped down on the tile floor. She settled down on her stomach to play the game, moving her first pawn forward lazily.

Peridot’s mind wondered back to the beach day.

\-----------------

Peridot sat on a towel across from the ocean, her long arms wrapped around her legs, eyes trained on a distant Lapis bobbing up and down in the surf.

She took a deep breath in through her nose and looked up at the sky through her dark glasses, the air tasted like salt and a musk she can’t distinguish, like something green tinged with grey. Nature?

It did have the effect of uncoiling something very tightly wound within her to the point she ended up dozing off slightly in the sun. Doing so for perhaps 15 minutes before a pair of feet softly pad up to her.

“Peridot!” Peridot jumped as Lapis came up to her. “C’mon in the water!”

“Um, uh, I’m not sure…”

“You’re at the beach, you butt.”

Lapis is pulling on her arm. Peridot shifts and stalls until Lapis crosses her arms and starts tapping her foot. Peridot shuffled out of her jean shorts and large Breaking Bad shirt with the saying ‘I _am_ the danger’ with Walter Whites face on it.

She thought it would be funny. Lapis said it was, so win on her part.

Without it though, Peridot felt exposed, her yellow one piece was having it's first time out in ages and Peridot felt exposed, she was, after all, a little weirdly proportioned, and a little uncomfortable.

Lapis takes her hand, “come into the water with me.” She breathes and leads the other girl into the waves.

The water was warm and inviting, salty of course, but Peridot briefly enjoyed the sand beneath her toes, scrunching and unscrunching the granules as the tide kissed her shins.

Lapis splashed her.

“Really?” She griped impassively,

Lapis splashes her again as the waves came in.

“Come on!” Peridot tried to push it away.

“Come catch me!”

Peridot splashed her in that general direction and then waddled in to follow the nimble girl out to sea. The waves kept breaking in her face.

“Ugh,” she spit it out the liquid. Awful. She was going to die.

Lapis slowed down and let her splash her, they end up giggling in the surf.

Lapis then had Peridot learn to body surf. Which was just floating on top of the waves and trying not to face plant into the sand. Which was a thing that happened.

They body surfed and swam further and further out to sea until they could barely see the shore, just a white strip of blurry khaki on the horizon. Peridot did slowly managed to coax Lapis back to dryland with the promises of sandwiches and unsalted water.

Lapis kept laughing and telling stories about her time on the beach and growing up on the waterfront in North Carolina, and by late afternoon Peridot had no idea if they were on a date or in friendship valley. Should she have brought chapstick? Or practiced, God forbid, getting to kiss her.

She gulped, a first kiss.

They end up cracking open their textbook when the sun tucked itself behind the clouds, mostly on the behest of Peridot’s frequent mentioning and in the wake of a very reluctant Lapis. They prepared for the midterm.

It was a smooth joyride of a day until the wind picked up, tossling both the two girls hair about and setting an eerie mood. It didn’t help when Peridot discovered her glasses she placed aside were covered in sand.

“Stupid cruddy beach,” she mumbled to herself angrily as she cleaned the lenses of her 90’s style horn rims. “I can’t believe this, I could _eat_ someone.”

Things like this made Peridot very uncomfortable, like a clock hand violently jerking backwards or the cord of a cello played with a stick, screeching out sound. It was something very, very off.

She spent ten minutes, no twenty, in the bathroom, washing her glasses and finding ever new tiny lacerations she swore she could undo.

She had been ready to _throw_ herself off a _cliff_ , dramatically, when she came out from public beach house that served for a locker region, showers and dining area included.

Most patrons of the beach took shelter there in lieu of the wind that had severely picked up.

That’s when Peridot spotted Lapis off on the deck staring directly into the tumbling waves that were curling and uncurling sharply.

She had approached the other female only to find her sniffling and holding her mouth in trembling fingers. Oh no, Peridot eyes went wide, it was happening.

But Lapis heard her clunking steps and wiped her face quickly, turning to her with a watery grin and making a strangely lewd joke about the sweaty tourists.

Peridot laughed a little forcefully and looked Lapis in the eyes, she knew that she knew, and they both knew something was keeping them estranged like goldfish in separate fish tanks.

They chatted again over chili fries from a vendor and drove home in fits of talking and making fun of their TA’s.

It was then that Lapis in the manic atmosphere, gleaming in the light of a half moon, suggested they clean their suits of sand and grime in the laundromat they met at, they decided to sneak in.

\---------------

The girls sat in the gloom of the low street lamps, lazily moving piece after piece. Peridot liked games. They were easy and something her brain could keep pace with in a slow relaxing fashion. Lapis played along, moving her players in a surprisingly adept fashion.

She looked up from under her long lashes and eyed Peridot.

“Hey Peridot.” Mozart's fifth murmured through the air. “Tell me about robots.”

Peridot felt an electric pulse somehow pass through her spine, the oddity of the night sending her into a surreal state.

“Something in particular?”

“Oh, just whatever, I did subject you to talk about seabirds all day.”

Peridot chuckled lowly, “how else would I find out the feeding habits of gulls?”

“Oh,” Lapis pushes on her shoulder lightly, “really.”

Peridot hesitated, then slowly started the conversation in on her latest project, making a robot that projected diagrams- a work in progress.

“....and, they don’t usually work, so is the fate of most robotics projects, and I have to keep dismantling them, breaking them and reassembling the parts.”

“Gruesome.”

“Frankenstein’s monster wasn’t built in a day.” She remarked nonchalantly.

“Mad science.” She wiggles her eyebrows, “very chic.”

Peridot felt her insides do flip flops, this was getting almost too much for her. She ended up laughing stiffly, unsure what to do with her arms or hands or anything anymore.

“Electrical engineering ties into it too.” Peridot mentions her other major quickly, her face heating up.

“I can imagine.”

They lapse into a stillness of the quiet night.

“Hey Lapis.” She returns nervously after the long pause, her curiosity asserting itself.

“Yeah.” She whispers,

“What were you upset about today?”

Lapis didn't respond right away, instead she sat back up again and self-consciously tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear. Peridot waited,

“Do you ever miss something,” she starts, “that never existed? And remember that… and it’s sad. And you can’t really help yourself.”

Peridot nodded slowly, trying to understand. “Did something happen at the beach? Someone?”

Lapis laughed weakly, “nope. I guess I should just come out and say it, I’m not very emotionally stable? Kind of a wreck. A real one.”

“No, no, everyone does that sort of thing.” Peridot wasn’t good at this sort of thing, but she couldn’t stand to see the other girl upset.

“Not on cute outings! I mean, I really enjoyed it. It’s just sometimes, I, well, I cry and I can’t stop.” She looked out the window in a perplexed miserable state. “Not terribly stable of me.”

“One time in the third grade,” Peridot practically shouted to distract the other girl, “I sharpened all of my pencils to a perfect point and placed them on a my desk in a row, and then some bratty crodding kid broke off half their tips when I wasn’t looking. I ripped the back of his shirt open, stuffed raisins in his ear and swore revenge, loudly, the teacher had to tear me off him when I threatened to pee on him!”

“Um.”

“There. See? No one’s stable per say.”

Lapis laughed and bit her lip, “that’s pretty funny.” She made her move, Lapis’s queen taking Peridot’s knight. Peridot had her. She would win in three moves. Her rook took her bishop.

“I got in a lot of trouble.” Peridot remembered dully at the third grade fiasco.

Lapis gasps, “who would have thought?”

“Hey!”

“No, no, kidding. I think it’s cute.” Lapis moves her pawn a space to lock in one of Peridots Knights.

“I think you’re...totally going to lose.”

“Oh no, don’t count me out yet!” She yelled back and aggressively moved her other knight to take Peridots Queen in a sneak attack.

“Hmph,” Peridot blows air out her nose, “if that’s what you think.” She easily moves her castle into position with her horse in line. “I think you’ll be sorely mistaken. Checkmate.” 

Lapis’s eyes search the board, obviously crossing every option off in her mind. She sighed, “well, looks an egghead takes the crown of egghead hood.” She says in a resigned tone while meeting Peridots eye slyly.

“Bet your ass I get the crown.”

Lapis snorts, “dork.”

Their eyes meet and both girls cheeks heat up, “home then?” She says in a squeaky voice, “our clothes are done.”

“Yeah!” Lapis says back equally as unnaturally high energy. She returns the speakers to their rightful place and Peridot picks up their bathing suits.

They head out quietly,

“It’s one in the morning.” Peridot remarked.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They look up at the moon, in sync as they walked down the street.

“It’s nice.” She whispered,

“This was nice.” Peridot relinquished, notably genuine in the dull husk of night.

“Peridot,” Lapis returns, “thank you for this. Really.”

“No, no problem! I’m glad you like the beach, that I could help, being a transfer student can be hard.”

“It did remind me of home. Mostly in the good way.”

“Mostly?”

She hums and shrugs, “childhood wasn’t all soft sands and sticking raisins in third graders ears like some of us.”

“That was only once or twice.” She expresses defensively, “I learned self control.”

“Sure.”

“I didn’t wrestle you when I found you at my washing machine the first time.” She pointed out.

“Maybe next time then.” She remarked in knowing tone.

Peridot’s insides turn to jelly at the implications and her shoulders get the jitters, she tries to keep talking, “Well, childhood is always pretty stressful for everyone.”

“Stressful?” Lapis arches her eyebrows.

She realizes how that sounded and twitches her mouth, “a lot of TAG for some of us. Someone in my family had to work, get a job, get good grades.”

“Stressful.” Lapis affirms sympathetically. Silence lays like new fallen snow, Peridot waits. “I understand. I got stressed too, if that is the word for it. You think you miss childhood, then you remember it was messed up you had to sit in a room full of mirrors for four hours after, well, stuff. And you end of crying on a beach.”

“No.”

“I know right?”

“No, I mean, that is messed up. Growing up is always...hard.” She finished lamely, whispering, but their pinky’s somehow brush, Peridot curls it around the other girls. She swings their arms as their the small fingers interlock. A loose sort of hand holding with one digit.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not there anymore."

They hold pinkies and proceed at a lazy pace and tone until Peridot spots Lapis’s house. She fidgets, she knew what this meant.

She tries to stall for time, “So the couple lets you rent out the top floor of their house?”

She barely knew what to do with herself, they were reaching the girls front door.

“Yeah, they’re really nice, they even invite me to dinner sometimes.”

“Wow.”

Lapis chuckled as they halt at her pale front door.

“I have a side door over here, it’s so I don’t have to walk through their house at all hours,” she said, dragging Peridot to the side of the abode. They pause at the sidedoor, Peridot wanted to lean in, she really wanted to lean in, meet the mouth of the pretty ethereal blue haired girl.

“Um, that’s really cool and I’m glad. I have a roommate-neighbor and we have to run into one another sometimes, I hate it.”

She’s rambling.

“Hey Peridot.”

“Yes?” Her voice cracks.

Lapis’s soft lips meet Peridot’s cheek gently, rosebud shaped petals on her face, “I had a really good time.” She squeezes Peridots shoulder briefly then and turns around to flit inside in a hurry.

All Peridot can do is blink, babble back things that might be words, and manage to at least wave ecstatically at the girl’s back.

Peridot walked home in a pure daze, unsure which way was up and how exactly her feet worked.

  
She only broke out of it when she reached home, opening up the largest grin of her life. She jumped face down on her bed, burying her head in a pillow and squealing into it for several very silly minutes until she ran out of breath. She had got a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this chapter did not pop out as easily as the first two, rewrote it like 3 times. But I think I like it now. Next chapter is already written and will come out in a few days.
> 
> Thank you all so much for all the kind comments and general kudos! I love them an unreal amount and they really keep me going <3


	4. Rinse Cycle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this chapter got way too long so it is split up into two parts! Next part up soon
> 
> Warning: minimal amounts of blood
> 
> Also, thanks thereactionof1984.tumblr.com for the fanart! I can't believe it and it looks lovely

 Study Break

Peridot and Lapis started walking home from class together. They would chat amiably before reaching Peridots apartment complex and then parting, most days at least.

“Can I see where you live?” Lapis asked interestedly on the Wednesday after the beach trip.

“Hmm?”

“It seems so college-y here, I never really got a dorm life.”

“It’s not really a dorm.” Peridot accesses, though it did have the overlap with dorms of cramped spaces and a plethora of college students.

“Come on.”

“Well, it’s not, well, it’s frankly a mess.” She said while rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably.

“I expect nothing less from you. In fact I would be very suspicious otherwise.”

“Ugh.” Lapis winks at her. “Alright, but, wait outside for a little bit.”

They ascend the flight of stairs into the apartment complex, it was close to dorm style, as in everyone had their own bedroom and bathroom, but shared a kitchen with one other person. It was sort of cheap and sort of private, but only sort of.

“Okay, here we are, apartment 205,” she announced as they get to the abode, “now, I’ll be right back.”

Peridot’s keys jingle as she wiggles the door open and slides in. It was a fair sized living space, big enough for a twin sized bed in the corner, a TV, desk, and beanbag chair, but barely big enough, it seemed, for all of Peridot’s trash.

She tried to make fast work of the place. Chips in the garbage, crumbs swept into her hands, 5 soda’s and 9 energy drinks stacked in the already overflowing trash. Damn.

She at least managed to hide her more lazily distributed items like tampons and every single one of her bras she owned distributed like confetti.

Peridot was breathing hard, ready to exit, before she remembered Lapis might want a snack.

She crept up to the kitchen door, listening in for her neighbor-roommate. Peridot had closely monitored the other girls eating habits to the point she could predict when she wouldn’t be there, that way Peridot could eat in peace. When she did cook meals. Or remembered to eat. 

Finding the kitchen noiseless for the time being Peridot edged in and stacked all of the dirty dishes in one place and wiped up some piles of protein powder littering the counters.

When she reckoned it had been far too long, even for her, Peridot transitioned into an Olympic sprinter and rushed back out into the hallway.

Her insides hollowed out when she found Lapis not on her phone, but chatting genially in the hallway, smiling, and perhaps laughing? This was indisputably bad.

“Jasper,” she said flatly.

Her buff neighbor-roomy looked up from staring hungrily at the smaller blue haired girl.

“Peri,” her gruff voice shaped her nickname, Peridot twitched, “I didn’t know you _knew_ people.”

Peridot hummed angrily in the back of her throat and scowled.

Get a roommate they said, it would be fun they said.

“Peridot,” Lapis chirped, “me and Jasper here were just discussing this party that’s happening on your floor.”

“Yeah, that freshman is inviting everyone.” Jasper clarified.

Peridot looked between her beefy neighbor staring at Lapis and then Lapis staring at Peridot.

“When would it be?” Please be a weekday, please a weekday, she had an excuse for that.

“This Friday.” Man.

“You can come too, uh, what was it?”

“Lapis Lazuli.” Lapis put out her hand and they shake, Peridot had the sudden homicidal urge to bite through pure muscle. “But I don’t think I’m invited.”

“Well, no problem, you can-”

“I’m sure they don’t mind if you come as my plus one.” Peridot interrupted, no way she was losing Lapis due to Peridots own aversion to people. Jasper could eat it. “If you want to go that is.”

“Aw Peridot, you're too good to me.” Lapis cheered, and everything was right in the world again.

“Everything’s ready if you want to come in.” Lapis offered assertively, time to cut their meeting short.

“Yes, yeah.” Lapis expressed, her eyes fixed on the door. “Are there a lot of parties in dorm life?” Lapis asked as she approached.

“None that Peri would know about.” Jasper crossed her arms, and Peridot sneered at her. The muscle-bound roomy shrugged, “take it easy. All's fair in love and you know.” She said lowly when Lapis was out of earshot.

Peridot rolled her eyes, “calm down, this isn’t drama class.” She still felt her pulse do funny little nervous jolts. She wasn’t ready for this, she was barely ready for a crush, and not to mention competition with a competitive body builder.

She followed Lapis into the room, her eyes narrowed fixedly on Jasper when she closed the door, Jasper just grinned at her like a primantis ready to strike.

“So this is your place.” Lapis said as she looked around, “it is bigger than I thought it would be.” She inspected her posters and Peridots large computer area with two monitors.

Peridot shrugged, “it’s all about the maximization of space. I did some figuring on it.”

“You would, nerd.” But she’s half-smiling at her.

“Want to see my uh, consoles or something?” She could at least show what she was good at.

“I’m not huge on video games.” Peridot’s heart sinks, “do you have Mario Kart though?”

“I do!” Peridot was excited, fantastic, this could work, even if Lapis sounded like a casual. She sets up her Wii.

Peridot chooses Bowser, Peridot watched closely as Lapis chose Peach, she nodded her head in a type of approval.

Some time later and Peridot was cursing out loud,

“shit, shit.” She fell off rainbow road into the dark abyss. “How are you doing this?” She asked as Peach took a nasty turn and makes it into a smooth drift.

Her voice is vibrating with mirth, “you suck at this!”

“You are too easily amused.”

“Easily _winning_ I think you mean.” Her eyes glint with bloodlust as she throws a green shell backwards and then takes the final bend of the lap in a fervor. “Yes." She says "yes, yes!”

She she comes in first and celebrates by jumping to her feet and raising her arms above her head.

“Lapis, 3-2, the crowds go wild for unbeatable skills against all dorks!” She does a victory lap around Peridots bean bag, skipping around the soft chair as Peridot groans.

She pulled on Lapis’s skirt to get her to stop, “contrarily, I think you are now Queen of the dorks. We bow for now to your strange ability to win at cartoon go-Karts.”

“Woo!”

Lapis falls with the tug onto the bean bag and immediately slides to the the center of gravity, her hips and arms colliding into Peridots.

Peridot turns her head to complain perhaps, but her brain goes blank when Lapis’s face is inches from her own. Her lips were shiny from light lip gloss and shaped like a neatly made bow.

Her brain goes haywire, circuitry fizzling out into a mess of tangled thoughts and breathless red.

She can feel Lapis’s heartbeat strong and fluttering all the way through her shoulder.

“Can I throw out your cottage cheese Peri?” A knock comes at the door like a rude battering ram crashing through the atmosphere, both girls jump.

“No!”

“It’s got seven layers of mold, I’m only asking because I can’t stand the smell anymore.”

“Fine then!” Peridots face is still unnaturally hot. However, Lapis isn’t looking at her like she was before, focusing instead out the singular large window in the room and adjusting her top.

“Out it goes then.”

Peridot had never truly disliked the beast of women until now, they got along in a haphazard tolerate-you sort of way. That very moment though was pure and feral anger, her cohabitee may find all her protein bars covered in hot chili powder soon.

“I should go.” Lapis expressed, her large eyes round like moonrises. “It’s late. Shouldn’t keep you.”

“No, no. I mean…okay.” She finishes trying keep it cool and not come off as clingy, “We can see each other tomorrow.”

“Of course! Can’t miss another day of hegemony in a half-shell.”

“It’s not that hard to get. Just imagine me. I am the hegemon of that classroom.”

Lapis bites her lip, “I know. that big powerhouse of a brain working for you.” she drills her finger into the side of Peridots head playfully, Peridot laughs.

“Stop it!” She snickers.

Lapis desists, and gets up, picking up her purse and strolling to the door. Peridot scrambled to follow her and see her off.

Lapis pauses at the door. “I guess I’ll have to go buy something to wear for that party.” She said thoughtfully, “It will be nice to really meet people from here.”

Peridot remembered Lapis needed people in a way she herself didn’t quite. And Lapis had not really met people from the area.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, whatever you wear people from here will like. It’s that kind of town.”

She snorts, “so your fashion sense is from…?”

“That. Plus, indifference.” She folded her arms.

“I expect nothing less,” she touched Peridots shoulder, her eyes flick up and down and then she turned around. “See you then!” She calls over her shoulder as she races off.

Peridot leaned against the doorframe with a goofy smile on her face, she sighed heavily, she was in over her head.

\----------

Friday came faster than Peridot would have liked.

She picked out her maroon striped button-up shirt and her black dress pants that at least made her legs look long. She tucked in the shirt, and tried on the only pair of heels she owned, a pair of black strappy sandals.

She wobbled on them and had flashbacks of her aunt's wedding.

Peridot placed her hair up in a tighter bun and her wallet in a concealed fanny pack no one could see. Oh yeah, she was so ready to party.

And at least already engaging in low key existential dread. Crowds, and crowds she had to talk to were not on her list of Peridot’s comfort zones. They got to her.

She was no weenie, she wouldn't back out, pacing at her door to wait for Lapis’s knock.

Lapis arrived fashionably late, to both Peridot’s relief and irritation.

“Oh.” She breathed softly, “You look fantastic.” Lapis was wearing a white crop top, a shell choker necklace and a knee length circular skirt with a loose rope belt. _The night might just be worth it._

“You too, gigabytes. You look,” she paused, “tall.” She finished, looking at her legs.

“Doesn’t everyone look tall to you?” She commented wirly.

“Pfft, you’re make so many friends tonight with that mouth of yours.”

“It’s the only way I know how to make clods for friends.”

They trade barbs as they go down the hallway a few doors, noise already droning from the room.

Peridot knocked first.

A dark skinned young teen, 19 maybe? In a striped shirt answered the door,

“Oh, hi.” She greeted, staring at them uncertainly.

“I’m Peridot and this is Lapis. I live in the room two doors down. We heard you invited the whole floor.” She got down to business.

“Um, yeah, totally,” she said distractedly, “the more the merrier.” She stood aside and let the two of them enter. Peridot can feel Lapis give the back of her neck a pointed look for her briskness. “The beer is in the fridge, though someone said they’d bring a keg. We’ll see if that happens. Some whiskey is floating around, and this chick made margarita’s.” She whispers, “I wouldn’t try them though.”

Lapis laughed, Peridot observed the room cooly. A lot of young people chat and play various games in circles. She hopes she can get through this.

“Hey Jenny,” a very pale boy with headphones around his neck approaches them, “someone hijacked the playlist.” He says in an irked tone.

“Oh my God.” The stressed hostess jogs to the other side of the living room to put a stop to what sounded like a repetition of ‘Versace’ over and over.

“Hi. I’m Sour Cream.” The boy introduces himself to Lapis immediately, flies to honey Peridot thinks to herself. She narrows her eyes at him.

“Lapis!”

“You live here?”

“No, my friend does though, she’s a junior at the university. She lives right next to you.”

“And you?”

“I’m a block off at Marine st…”

They enter into inane chatter on their majors and where they are from. Basic conversation with Peridot’s interest as the collateral damage.

She goes to get a drink for something to do. She entered the kitchen only to find a long table set up with two opponents throwing balls at red cups set up in a triangle. She was intrigued.

“Oh! Get wrecked Kiki,” the player called to a fluffy haired girl.

“Round two, round two.” The inebriated female replied.

Peridot watched with pointed interest, “what is this?” She asked to a nearby boy with ‘cool’ shades on.

“Bear pong yo. You’ve never heard of it?”

“Tell me the rules.”

Peridot liked games. She liked winning. Especially against dull ball point pens of people.

He goes over the goal of the game was to make the ping pong balls into one of the red cups so their opponents had to drink from it, it was their turn if you miss or they catch the ball. Peridot nodded along.

“I’ll play.”

“Get in line then.” Someone snapped at her.

Peridot waited, watching like a hawk on the techniques of the game and giving herself something to focus on outside of the social miasma bothering her ears and heartbeat.

“Okay, so I start.” She asserted when the next few players lose and it’s her and the reigning champ on deck.

“Why not pointy.” The boy pronounced confidently. She was going to beat him into a pulp.

Peridot made her first move, angling her elbow and keeping her eyes focused. It’s a bullseye into the foremost cup, the crowd oohs.

“Lucky shot.” He commented.

“Don’t cry too much when I win.” She returned snidely.

Peridot made the next shot, and the next, the next two until missing the fifth. Her opponent has a smug grin pass over his mouth, “Let’s do this.”

Peridot is forced to down three half cups of lukewarm coors light, she maintained sharp eye contact to intimidate the boy the whole time. She wins by the third round.

“Take that idiot, how does your own bragging taste now? I hope your mother knows you’re an unremitting twit that can’t shoot for all of shit.” She mocked him, because of who she was as a person.

Peridot then goes on to win the next round, and the next, until she was somewhat of a party legend, infamous for her skills and abrasive taunts. Not popular, but not uninteresting.

Every other kid tried their hand at her, and since she still had to drink when they got a few balls in Peridot was fairly drunk by the ninth round, and pretty unapologetically derisive.

“You crappy beer pong players can swap spit with my ping pong balls dust.” She slurred.

Lapis flitted in periodically to check on her, laughing at the girls boasting and frankly weird abilities.

Peridot took a quick break with Lapis to meet to some other kids. It was awkward for her again to the tenth degree and she went back to pong.

It’s one in the morning when Peridot called it quits for real and went to find the blue haired female. She wanted to see her.

She stumbled around the party rooms until she emerged back into the hallway, surprised to find the girl with a gathered crowd and some small shopping carts.

Lapis was positioned in a cart pushed by Jaspers, who Peridot had quite a few words to say to in her current intoxicated state. They were lining up alongside Jenny in another cart and the ‘cool’ kid in the shades pushing it. Uh oh.

Peridot sobered up very quickly.

“What are you drunken monkeys doing?” She burst out with genuine worry in her tone.

“Racing.”

“No! Idiots. These barely fit in the hall.” They weren't listening to her.

“Have a sense of humor Peri.” Laspis expressed. Oh Jeez, Jasper was spreading her nickname to Lapis, and probably the whole party, she bawls up her fists.

“We’ll be right back.” The large women growls as her hands clench to the shopping cart handle.

“This is such a bad idea,” the girl called Kiki also contributed.

“Thank you!”

“It’ll be fine.” Jenny waves them off.

“Ready?” Sour Cream asked the racers, they nodded.

“Ugh!”

“Set,” he holds his arms up,

"So dumb."

“Go.” He lowers his arms.

The participants jet off. The shopping carts creek down the hallway in a screech of wheels and joyous ‘woos’ from the riders. The two carts jostle each other, crashing into the others side periodically.

Jenny and Lapis laugh and glare at the other blithely.

“Eat our dust! C’mon Buck.” She indicates for him to speed up.

“Oh no, not if we have anything to say about this.” Lapis leaned forward to go faster.

But the wheels are uneven, Peridot can already see it coming. Buck tries to speed up but it goes off center and careens into the other cart.

The world goes very still for Peridot and she feels herself cry out.

The kids topple over at high speed. Jenny tumbling into the wall and Lapis flying outward to land on her knees and skid across the thin carpet.

  ****

Lapis cried out as she veered across the floor, skinning her knees it looked like. Peridot was already thinking of hundred reprimanding words, and a thousand ways to bandage wounds.

Lapis hissed through her teeth, kneeling on the floor and then looking up to chuckle hollowly, “ow.”

“I guess that’s a draw.” Jenny said standing up and rubbing her head stiffly.

“No! Let’s try again.” Jasper asserted, picking up one of the strewn carts from it’s side.

“No man, this was dangerous.” Buck sounds off, looking like he came to his senses.

“Are you okay Lapis?” Jenny’s eyes go wide as she turns to the blue haired girl,

“Yeah,” she stammered, “yeah.” But blood was dripping down onto the carpet, Peridot barreled through all them to get to the other female.

“Come inside with me.” Her voice is crooked as she tries to pull Lapis up by the arm.

“Calm down Peri, or should I say Pong Master.” She tried to joke, but she was cringing as red ran out of her knees and down her shins.

Peridot wished she could pick the rash girl up bridal style and whisk her off, instead she settled for supporting some of her weight as Lapis stood up shakily.

The rest of the group let out collective noises of concern,

“That looks bad.” Buck discerns,

“Maybe this _was_ a bad idea.” Sour Cream inputs blandly.

“I told you guys!”

“Hold on! Hold on,” Jenny calls, “I have some bandages inside.”

“No,” Peridot barks, “my place is right here, and more, er, sterile,”

“Really?” Lapis resounded skeptically,

“Well, less people at least,” she murmured.

Lapis shrugged and then turned back to the gathered group, “I’ll just be right back.” She shows them a winning smile.

Peridot tilts her, not understanding the girl to the fullest extent at that moment.

“Okay, okay, yeah.” Peridot gets her to the door with one hand supporting the small of her waist and one of Lapis’s arms around her neck.

“Freshman, so goddamn cruddy stupid.” She muttered to herself as she lifted her shirt to get her keys out of the thin bag under her clothes.

“Pfft, you’re wearing a fanny pack.” Lapis is red in the face from the drink as she mumbled at her cheerfully. Peridot rolled her eyes.

Peridot bears her into the small bathroom attached to her room. Sitting the girl down on the toilet seat she stares at her knees, examining them.

“Bad?” Lapis asks, rubbing her upper thigh.

“Hold still.” She stood up and got a handful of toilet paper to get wet. She kneeled down to pat at the wounds delicately. Lapis shirked away, “hold still.” She repeats.

Peridot could feelings the concern bubbling inside her, it’s such a was such a strong sensation she had trouble handling it. It was sticky and almost too close now, like a heat in her chest expanding too fast.

She applied the water to the problem area, “ah! Cold.” Lapis said through her teeth.

“It’ll be okay, mostly.” Peridot reassured as she then rummaged through her medicine cabinet junk to where her care package bandages were. “Aha.” She extracted the fairly big baggy from behind her old shampoo bottles and discarded hairbrushes.

“What were you thinking?” She finally turned on Lapis, neosporin in hand.

“I was thinking it sounded fun at the time.” She pouted, “you don’t have to help if you don't want to. It’s not that bad.” A tinge of embarrassment exumes from her.

“It’s fine,” she sighs, “I’m the one that brought you there. Don’t want this infected.”

Lapis opened her mouth to respond but cried out in shrill tones instead when the neosporin was applied.

“Uuuh,” she hissed in pain, “Gee. That is. That is something.” She tries to laugh again, but it turns into a squeal when Peridot presses down the extra large bandaid. “I really did mess up.” She expresses jokingly and cringed as the adhesive is applied to both her busted up knees.

“Yeah, well, those idiots, alcohol and illegal carts were bound to have some sort of outcome.”

“Oh, they aren’t so bad. They’re nice! We should go back.”

“Really?” Peridot asked adversely.

“We said we would.”

Peridot felt torn. Lapis was hurt and she felt no attachment to the place. But Lapis was making at eyes at her. She sighed.

“They’re having margarita cake!”

“That sounds strange.”

“Peri, let’s at least finish the night. Heck, maybe you’ll find another party game to beat everyone at.”

Peridot hums in the back of her throat in approval.

“Or you could meet people. Just you and me, party moggles.”

She blinked at the use of ‘you and me’ it was us, it was them. Together. Peridot had a sensation of high tide and being drawn out to sea.

She stood up, “for a little bit.” She shuffled to the door, but swayed as she tried to walk straight, Lapis laughs at her. “Maybe no more bear pong though after all.”

She helps Lapis up.

“Aw, but you were so good.”

“Damn straight.”

“Party animal.”

“I already regret all of this.”

“You do?” Lapis’s face falls, her lips forming an O shape, eyes unevenly open, she stands up on wobbly legs. Peridot ruffled her head, “No, kid. Kidding.”

She was in too deep.

They walk back to the party discussing how or why Peridot became a hurricane of ping pong playing.

Lapis knocked on the door this time, someone they didn’t recognized answered.

“Lapis your back!” She exclaimed.

“Are you okay?” Jenny’s nervous voice resounded from the back, they were all gathered around a cake. She hurried over. Peridot decided Jenny of all people wasn’t so bad. Maybe a house warming gift was in order.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. Gotta live hardcore to be hardcore.” She made a Jack Black impression, they laugh, though Peridot can sense a forced aspect to it.

She ruffled Lapis’s hair again as they walk in.

“Happy house warming by the way!” Lapis spouted as they approach the beige cake shaped like a house, “we brought you a bandaid.”

She hands over one of Peridot’s bandaids. They laugh again, Peridot is impressed by Lapis’s ‘people’ skills, if not bad decision making ones.

They gather around the cake, it’s not as terrible as Peridot predicted and she ends up chatting like she promised with some more people at the party. If not with an air of disengagement.

“You really work at that laundromat down the way?” Peridot asked to a fluffy haired tall boy with ear gauges.

“Yeah, it totally bites though and they pay you nothing to basically do nothing. I’m not sure if the owner remembers the place anymore.”

“And you?”

“Man, I have another job, where I actually need to be there. But yeah, I go when I absolutely have to. There is like one other employee I think. And they don’t show up either.” The shrill teen voices.

“Uh-huh.” Peridot didn't know what to do with this information.

“Yeah, Lars is a regular entrepreneur, he’s got like 3 jobs.” A smaller blonde girl says admiringly, Sadie, Peridot remembered because she thought she was cute.

The boy sniffed, “yeah, well, some of us are just born hard workers.”

Peridot didn’t care and wanted to look into the camera like it was The Office.

She settled for wandering over to the couch instead as Lars and the small girl kept conversing.

The lights were growing dim in the apartment as people continued departing and the noise wound down, Peridot however was committed to the bitter end so she got herself another drink.

Peridot was about to sit down on the mostly empty couch to watch The Gremlins movie someone popped in when she spotted Jasper talking to Lapis. And looking at her. Jasper fixed gaze like that of an opened mouthed wolf.

Peridot crept closer.

Luckily Lapis seemed pissed off as she talked to Jasper, scowling and even stomping her feet lightly at one point. Jasper, nonplussed, just purred at the girl as far as Peridot could tell. Lapis crossed her arms angrily. That a girl.

Peridot lurked ever closer to hear what they were saying, she could almost make out the mumbling when Lapis abruptly turned around.

“Humph!” Peridot flings herself across the couch in what she hopes is a casual fashion. She didn’t want to give herself away.

Lapis seemed too distracted to really notice and ended up stomping over to Peridot herself, grumbling something under her breath.

“Scoot over.” She ordered as she reached Peridot. The other girl complied easily.

“What was that about?”

“Oh…” Lapis turned to really look at her, “she’s just being mean. What are we watching?”

“Gremlins. About what?” Would Peridot have to get her red hot chili peppers out?

“Nothing.” She sighed, “she just said some stuff about The Lakers and then asked me out. The Lakers are great and no one can say otherwise.”

Peridot became drastically less interested when she heard the name of what she figures was a sports team. That is until her brain latches on to the ‘asked her out.’

She almost spits out her drink.

“She asked you out?” She can feel her face heating up, an angry tizzy forming in her head. Lapis gave her a teasing sidelong look and scooted closer until she was grinning directly in Peridot’s face, “yeah. She asked me out.”

“Well, what did you say?” Her voice was unnaturally uneven.

“Nothing.” Lapis said easily this time, letting up her teasing. “I walked away.”

“That’s, that’s, good.” Peridot finished, “I mean,” she tried to cover her red cheeks, “Jasper is very dedicated to lifting. You guys would barely have time together, bad match.” Her coverup sounded plastic even to her own ears.

Lapis laughed, “sounds like trouble.” They saddled up closer on the small couch and end up drunkenly making fun of the movie as they take sips from the last hard cider.

“...and then he threw butter at her.” Lapis slurred a story out from another party she attended.

“Good god. Was that or this one the best party you’ve attended? Outside of,” she gestured, “busting your knees up.”

“Oh definitely neither. My little friend Steven throws the best parties. He’s hilarious.”

“Wait, Steven as in from-”

A very intoxicated girl bumped into the couch roughly from somewhere, her drink cascaded down the cushions, Lapis dove to the side to avoid the oncoming downpour.

“Oops, sorry,” the girl giggled, “just trying to get outta here. What a great party.” She hiccuped and kept the sloshing the drink around. Lapis crouched in Peridot’s lap, Peridot's mind ran in high speed circles like the road runner at having in her lap.

“God I hope that comes out.” The drunk female says as she stumbled away to the door, the two of them watch her go. Lapis in Peridots lap, Peridot with her heart in her throat.

“Hope she gets home okay…” They stare at eachother, Peridot expected Lapis to inch further away. She doesn’t.

“Anyway, yeah, like Steven from class. Professor Quartz’s son.”

Peridot didn't respond right away, blinking until she regains some senses.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, he was one of the first people I met here. He’s so sweet. One of the reasons I took that class.”

“Huh.”

They are interrupted again by crashing coming from the bathroom followed by groaning.

Lapis covered her mouth as she snickered,

“people are idiots.” Peridot remarked at the pained moans. Lapis relaxed against her and Peridot stiffens her posture in reaction.

“Not me though.”

“Especially you.” Peridot pats near where Lapis’s knees were. “Kart racing?”

“Wanted to try it in real life.” She yawned widely, it was 3 in the morning.

Peridot tilted her head at her quizzically, Lapis grinned, “the real Princess Peach.”

Peridot snorted out loud, “you think you’re funny.” Peridot was feeling tired too, watching Lapis yawn and stretch out.

“Well, yeah. Among other things.”

Peridot vaguely remembered calling her an idiot before drifting off to sleep. The soft pressure of Lapis’s weight on her left leg and her head on her shoulder, cuddling in the night for lack of any blankets. If this was happy Peridot didn't know what kind of emotions she'd been having before that moment.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again everyone for any comments or Kudos!
> 
> Hey, you can also follow my fandom/writing blog at insomniac-arrest.tumblr.com, and if you post about the fic as 'Laundromat SU fic' (or Lapidot Laundromat I suppose, but I thought that sounded silly) it is something I will see!
> 
> Update: no, no, awesome art from  
> http://thereactionof1984.tumblr.com/post/127125219890/throws-this-colored-sketch-of-that-scene-at-the  
> check out their blog and art! Gah, I'm so happy


	5. Ironing

** Strategic Defense **

Peridot woke up with a slight but pervasive pounding in her head. Her mouth tasted like sawdust and something unsettling rested on her shoulders and in her stomach.

She groped around, remembering she was on a couch in someone else's house. Oh Great.

Peridot opened her eyes only to become immediately more awake when she witnesses Lapis talking to Jaspers again. God, that women just wasn’t quitting.

The interaction seemed off to her though when Jaspers pet Lapis’s waist and then turned to leave.

“See you Tuesday Blue.” Her gruff voice resounded as she exited out the door.

Peridot had no idea what was going on.

“See you.” Lapis said in a small voice. Peridot had no idea what was going on.

Lapis strolled back to the couch, picking up her clam purse on the way,

“what was that about?”

Lapis shrugged and didn't meet her eye. “I just said yes.”

“To what?”

“You know.” She pursed her lips and looked off to the side, “the date.”

Peridot’s world came crashing down around her.

\-------------------

\-------------------

“Never have I ever,” Lapis began. “Spit in someone’s drink.”

Two people put their fingers down and the group let out a collective ‘ewww’ at the perpetrators. Lapis sat happily in a circle with the other party goers, she had been looking forward to this sort of experience.

“Never have I ever…” A shy girl began, “had someone’s tongue in my mouth.” She giggled.

“Like a kiss?”

She nodded. Lapis put one finger down alongside most of the circle.

“Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

Lapis put her finger down, her neighbor elbowed her playfully for it. What could she say, she wanted to be in the water in every way possible.

Lapis was on her third drink and starting to feel the buzz as well as frankly one shot away from some bad situations. Someone handed her the bottle of whiskey.

“Bleh,” Lapis took a swig of the brown burning liquid, it went down like a slow ignition that set her throat and insides into a mess of flames. Lapis appreciated the twinge of fever burn. “Strong stuff.” She observed.

“Never have I ever rode down the hallway in a shopping cart.” Jenny interrupted the game, standing with the door to the apartment open and an orange cart resting behind her.

Several people voiced concerns about that kind of plan, Lapis included.

She scoffed, “sure. Sounds like the most logical thing to do at this hour, totally going to happen.” She rolled her eyes, “witness me.” She sarcastically referenced Mad Max.

Jenny pouted at the poor reaction room gave, but sat down with the rest of the group.

Someone put down their finger for the carts, finishing up the game.

“Let’s play King’s cup!” Someone suggested, Lapis took another swig of whiskey and went to go play, several drinks later she was shouting down the hall.

“I’M GOING TO RIDE THIS CART TO VALHALLA.” Lapis hollered exuberantly with a second cart wheeled into the room.

“What about that body shot?” Jasper drawled in her ear. Lapis was pointedly uncomfortable, Jasper was a predator if ever she saw one, but a useful one.

“No. Ride now. You can push me, muscles.” Lapis suggested while grabbing the girls thick arm and pulling her towards the hall.

Jenny was squealing and Kiki is giving her sister a stern look of disapproval while she hopped in the orange transportation.

“Maybe next time guys. Seems a little risky.” Sadie is there and sidestepping the whole idea. “Right Lars?”

The fluffy haired semi-punk shrugged,” I think it’s cool.”

“Yeah, Sadie you’re like the perfect size for it.” Sadie looked around nervously.

“Lapis will do it! See.” Sadie turned to her in relief as she walked through the door.

“Hell yeah I will. _Witness me._ ” She slurred out, meaning it this time.

“Someone knows how to have fun.” Jenny had a sly look in her eye.

"Always!"

Sadie sighed, “let’s go get a drink Lars.” He shrugs and they trot away.

“I will be the ref,” Sour Cream asserts.

In a swoop of fabric Lapis hopped into the basket. She was ready to make some memories. And honestly, her sense of self-preservation had always been flimsy, even under sober circumstances.

Peridot emerged from the kitchen, wobbling on her long legs and high heels. Lapis was still trying not to stare.

She came out only to complain, Lapis frowned, she had ditched her for half of this, and now? Lapis was going to ride down to hell in a handbasket. Somewhat literally.

“Go!” Sourcream calls and Lapis snapped back to attention from contemplating Peridot and could feel herself unexpectedly rushing through the small space. Something tells her this can only end well, but she ignores that.

“Eat our dust! C’mon Buck.”

“Oh no, not if we have anything to say about this.” A giddiness overtook her, she leaned forward into the wind of racing through the stale air and electric vibes.

Before she knows what’s happening though the cart is smashing into the side of the other, she is jolted off of the basket and suspended in midair, the ground quickly coming up to meet her folded legs.

She can hear people cry out behind her. She slides across the flooring, pain leaking through her shins like fire.

She cringed, overtaken by a sting shelling her knees. This was embarrassing.

Peridot was by her side a moment later before Lapis could even register her wounds, she tried to hold it together through bravado. “Ow.”

Why did this girl always find her in compromising situations? Maybe it was just Lapis.

Peridot helped her to the bathroom, her hand on the small of Lapis’s waist like a fork lift framed by long digits. Lapis hoped she didn’t see her turn a tone of pink at the touch.

Peridot sat her down on the toilet seat. She looked around. It was kind of grotty. As in dark spots in the corners (mold?), hair on the floor, a full trash and empty shampoo bottles with a spotty shower curtain.

Good Lord, this girl did need a little assistance. She smirked though, it was so Peridot, endearing, Lapis was somewhat frightened by that sudden wash of goodwill towards her.

She hissed as Peridot applied Neosporin and large bandaids. It stung, everything hurt in her legs and she tried to suppress showing it.

She wouldn’t ditch the party though, that was like defeat at the hands of her own flaws.

She got back up again.

“Let’s go back!”

She walked back to the room with residual burn in her lower limbs and an acute awareness of Peridot staggering close next to her. Her heart sped up. This was ridiculous she tries to reprimand herself, they were just walking next to each other.

They get into the room,

“cake!” She chirped happily.

“Oh thank God you’re okay.” Jenny said once she pulled her aside to check on her.

“Takes more than that to make me down and out. Next time I’ll get chrome for my mouth, make it an official Valhalla trip.”

Jenny laughed with a hint of concern in her eyes, “stop it.” She pushed on her shoulder. “Here’s some cake to make up for my bad influence.”

“I went along with it.” Why did everyone think she was some innocent corruptible creature? She ate the cake, Lars and Sadie come up to chat with Peridot and her, Lapis is happy to see Peridot engaging.

“Yeah, we work at the Big Donut, and Buck comes in all the time, and just up and invited us one day. I mean of course he did. It was cool.”

“Do you guys get free donuts?”

“Yeah, at the end of the day. Though you do get sick of…”

Lapis listened attentively until she craved another piece of cake, she’d been so excited she hadn’t ate much dinner.

“Hey hot stuff, not too banged up are you?” Lapis put on a crooked smile. Jasper.

Lapis found the attention unwarranted butfound interacting with the large women not so bad in general.

“Nah,” she was running out of clever ways to respond to this, “I’m made of tougher stuff than that.”

“I can tell.” Jasper leaned on the wall next to Lapis, she really did have around a foot on her if not more. The looming sort of pissed her off.

Peridot squawked something over dramatic and loud about Dragon Age to her listeners across the room.

Jasper snorted, “So how’d you meet Peri over there anyway?”

She shrugged, “we do our laundry at the same place.” She wanted to change the topic, “she a good roommate?”

“Not really. She’s a total nerd. All I hear is her yelling into headphones over and over at all hours, never sleeps as far as I can tell. She barely does the dishes. Fun to mess with her though.”

“Mess with?” Lapis cocked an eyebrow, a tinge of anger bubbling up in her stomach. She didn’t like this.

“Just little things. Move the kitchen stuff around. Tap on her door and then leave. Put her food out in the hall and wonder how _that_ happened. Oh man her reactions are priceless, it’s just too much. Can’t wait till I reveal where her packages are.”

“Packages? Like...a textbook?” Lapis is scowling.

“Chill out. If you really knew her you’d know she’s rude and so stuffy. A little fun probably helps the neurotic.”

“Don’t say that about her!” Lapis stomped her foot angrily on the floor.

“Or what?”

“I’ll tell on you.” She crossed her arms.

“I might have to up the kitchen messes then.” It sounded like a threat, “I get bored sweetness. I’d probably stop if I had something to keep me busy.”

“Like what?”

“A girlfriend.” She said innocently.

“What?!”

“Forget pointy. You don’t know her, she really is a rude jerk, if you go out with me you won’t regret it, I can treat you so well, I’ll even stop messing with Peri.”

Lapis turned on her heels and angrily, stiffly, walked away. What a jerk.

Jasper humphed behind her, but Lapis can feel her thinking this was a good sign. Hard to get.

Lapis grumpily plopped down on the couch, finding Peridot already there.

She made up a story about the Lakers, she didn’t want to upset Peridot with any distressing news, not after she had dragged her to a party she didn’t want to go to.

They talked, sipped something, Lapis felt warm inside. Felt like she wanted to be closer.

A drunk girl she recognized as some sort of ‘Sally,’ ran into the furniture, pouring her drink on the couch. Lapis dove out of the way and onto to Peridot’s lap who stiffened up with a goofy look on her face when she did. Lapis smiled to herself.

Was it planned though? Sally had been there when Lapis had put her finger down for ‘never have you ever liked a girl.’

Lapis curled up, she could feel Peridots heart beat strongly, like a hummingbirds hum. It was nice. It was like a soft blanket of security wrapping itself around a shaking house in the wind.

Lapis wanted to fall asleep in it. Lapis fell asleep.

\------------

Lapis woke up to an incredibly full bladder and a rigid, warm, body below her. She blinked open her eyes slowly. A sereness filled her senses.

She found a soft face of a very asleep Peridot right in front of her. Her mouth relaxed and open slightly, hair loosely kissing her face in strings and neck exposed like a river of shallow breathing.

Lapis felt a gush of affection like a floodgate being released from her chest. She was so open, and so okay to have Lapis drunkenly fall asleep on top of her.

Tears well up in her eyes like small beads of fear overflowing from her insides.

She didn’t know if she had to puke, cry for an hour or pee. Okay she really had to pee.

She slipped out from under Peridots long arms wrapped around her like dandelion stocks encasing her in a valley of comfort, it was sweet. It was terrifying.

Lapis escaped to the restroom.

She blurrily opened the brown door, it was much more clean then she expected after a long party, she nodded in approval. Before she sat down though she spotted a lump in the bathtub covered in a towel.

Lapis got up and poked the figure, it groaned.

Jasper turned over, light hair in her mouth and slanted blurry look in her eye.

“Get out. I have to pee.” A headache was developing in her frontal lobe.

“Wh’t?”

“Pee.” She poked her again.

Jasper managed to get up and leave the room on unsteady feet.

Lapis sat on the toilet and cried softly. Why was she like this? Love was hard. It was too fast.

Lapis got to relieve herself and then stumble out of the restroom herself.

“So,” Jaspers shakily began when she emerged, “did I end up asking you out last night? Because, beautiful, that was the plan.” She was obviously trying to be smooth, but the grimace on her face from a hangover gave her away as uncomfortable, what a dork.

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“I said,” Lapis paused, weighing something a heavy in her mind like a cat with string trying to untangle herself. “Yes. That was the answer.” She paused, her lungs feeling like grime and decay, “yes.”

She refuses to look Jasper in the eye, “as long as you don’t mess with Peridot again. Among other things.”

“Deal. Oh my God,” she said in surprise at herself. “Yes! It’s a yes!” She whoops. “This will be awesome. How about a Tuesday at the Red Castle?”

Lapis nodded shakily, she hands felt like deadweights.

“See you Tuesday Blue.” She says in her rough slur, her fingers ghosting over Lapis’s waist.

“See you then.” Lapis can barely contain herself from wilting on the spot.

She walked over to her purse and found Peridot awake. It was like staring her monsters in the mirror.

“What was that about?”

“I said yes,” she can barely form the sentence.

“To what?”

“You know,” her head pounds, “to the date.”

Peridot’s face fell like night time at sunset, slowly, then all at once into darkness. It hit Lapis that this might have been a terrible idea.


	6. Low Knits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: unhealthy relationships, childhood trauma

Office Hours

Peridot lay on her back in bed, she watched the fan above her bed whirl round and round, one lazy rotation at a time.

Sweat dripped down her thigh and she felt hyper aware of the blankets beneath her, uncomfortably scratchy and warm against her skin.

It was a hot day in Deer Creek and the buzz of her electric fan and the chatter of flies in her apartment couldn’t distract from her newly forming headache and perspiration leaking off her pores.

Peridot moaned, arching off the bed and holding her head. This sucked.

Everything sucked.

She rolled over onto her stomach and stared again at the pages of her book, highlighter in hand ready to mark up the new textbook that had miraculously reappeared.

It was almost two weeks since the party and Peridot was not in a good place.

_The main actors on the international stage are states and_

Peridot blinked, she watched the flies flitter around her room like out of control airplane pilots,

_are state and nonstate-_

She stared at the ceiling she can’t seem to get herself to care about the words on the page.

_are state and nonstate actors-_

She groaned and slammed the book shut, holding her head again furiously she didn't know what was wrong with her.

She turned and stared at last essay she wrote. A bright red B was stamped on the top like a carving in her heart by a knife, she buried her head in the pillow and lightly screamed.

Peridot rolled out of the stain in her bed and grabbed a cold Gatorade and chugged it, it was barely a relief from the summer heat.

She stumbled through her discarded clothes and various bottles and food wrappers on the floor. She had stopped going into the kitchen so she’d been living off snack packs and her own angry determination to avoid that room and a certain someone.

She dropped down on her bean bag chair and took the time to numbly stare at her ceiling fan again. It rotated like a mocking UFO that refused to leave her, move her, do much of anything including keep her cool.

She didn’t know how much time passed with watching the whirl of the circular wings, only moving to try and plug in her halo head set.

She ended up stopping midway through, headphones halfway on when she realized she didn’t want to do this. Everything felt like she was trying to cup water in her hands that was just slipping through her fingers.

She considered doing office hours like she usually did on Thursdays, but her stomach grumbled, and she just felt like going back to sleep.

Peridot was halfway across the room to her bed when she heard yelling through the wall. She moved in closer to the raised voices in slow motion.

“WELL MAYBE IF YOU HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR.” That was Lapis.

“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S ALWAYS GONE!”

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” That last line got Peridot's full attention, forcing her to trot to the door in a sudden rush of energy she didn’t know she had. She didn’t like the sound of this.

“I SAID LET ME OUT!”

“YOU NEVER WANT TO TALK! IT’S LIKE YOU THINK YOU HAVE ALL THE POWER, MISS PRINCESS.”

“Ah! YOu are _such_ an insecure muscle head!”

Some banging goes on in the apartment next door, Peridot pulled on a sweaty shirt that wasn’t just her sports bra and some basketball shorts and rushed into the hallway.

“STOP SHOVING!”

“I’M LEAVING!” Some more banging came from room 206, the door was suddenly flung open, a red faced Lapis emerged, angry wetness under her bright eyes,

“Ugh!” She yelled and rushed past Peridot in a flurry, Peridot reached her hand out weakly, fingers trailing after the blue haired female. She didn’t follow.

“You!” Peridot turned on Jasper angrily, “what did you do?” She demanded as she balled her fists up.

“Why do you care?” Jasper treated her like an annoying gnat as she watched the the end of Lapis’s skirt disappear around the corner. “You lost.”

“Like hell I did! All you two do is yell at each other all day.”

“Among other things.” She gave the other girl a lewd wink. “We do other things.”

Peridot threw a punch.

She put her entire weight behind it, pouring all of her furious grief into one unsteady jab.

Jasper easily caught the extremity and started laughing. Almost hysterical and completely mocking she just kept laughing as she squeezed down on Peridots right hook. Peridot flinched at the painful pressure.

“See you round Peri,” she said still laughing as she let go and closed the door in her face. Peridot clenched her jaw and ground her teeth down.

She realized only when she staggered back to 205 that there was nothing she could do, her shoulders sagged and she rested her heavy head on the door frame in a type of defeatism.

\----------------

Lapis's heartbeat thrummed in her chest at an unnaturally high rate. Memories like heated oil bubbled just below the surface of her consciousness.

_Lapis why would you-_

Panic seized her like a hand on her throat and a thick goo running down her intestines.

_Lapis you just don’t think-_

Her stress levels rose, she tried to blink back any intruding thoughts.

“You can’t just run out on dates Lapis!” Jasper hollered at her, she blocked the bathroom door with her girth.

“Let me go.” She replied cooly.

“You can’t just fly off! You said you liked me. That we would date.”

“Yeah, and that’s what we do.”

Lapis felt her chest compress as Jasper drew even closer, the room was getting smaller.

_Lapis what were you thinking-_

Lapis shut out the noise in her head. 

“Act like it! Your so flighty, you want to spend time but all you do is act like it’s prison when we do.”

“Can we do this some other time Jasper? I don’t like this space.” She confessed, eyes darting around.

“Not before we work through this dammit.”

“No! Not now.”

“Then when?”

_Lapis how could you-_

“Can’t you just be happy for this? You’re cute, I’m strong, we can be _happy._ ”

Lapis resisted rolling her eyes into the hemisphere, like she believed that, she grabbed the toothpaste lying on the sink and squeezed the white and red swirl onto the mirror. She drew a smiley face over her own reflection.

“There, happy? It’s me in the mirror. Happy.” She turned with a cheeky grin.

Jasper’s mouth fell open, her eyes went wide, she approached Lapis even closer until Lapis’s couldn’t exactly breath as the space contracted.

_She was being dragged down the hall by the wrist crying. ‘Lapis it’s time for some self-reflection on your actions!’ Mirrors and the ticking of clock fill her senses a second later. The door locks._

Jasper snapped her out of her own head. “I said, that is going to be a bitch to get out.”

Lapis couldn't help it, she started yelling, really yelling, like the world was enclosing her in a sticky trap and everyone should hear about it.

“WELL MAYBE IF YOU HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR WE WOULDN’T BE LIKE THIS.” She roared.

“YOU ARE THE ONE THAT’S MAKING THINGS WORSE, YOU’RE ALWAYS GONE!” She accused at a similar volume.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” Lapis ducked under her arm, only to have Jaspers foot shoot out and jam the door closed.

“I SAID, LET ME OUT!”

“YOU NEVER WANT TO TALK! IT’S LIKE YOU THINK YOU HAVE ALL THE POWER, MISS PRINCESS.”

“Ah!” She cries in frustration, “YOu are such an insecure muscle head!”

Lapis jumped over her leg nimbly, and rushed out into the flat, her chest decompressed as the amount of empty space grew, but it wasn’t enough. She went for the door, Jasper jumped out and pawed at her shoulder. Lapis roughly pushed her away, harshly bulldozing her aside.

“STOP SHOVING!”

“I’M LEAVING!” Lapis flung the door open, only to find the worst possible candidate to run into, her cheeks have angry wetness on them as she stands before Peridot.

“Ugh!”

She sprinted out of there. Luckily, no one follows her.

Lapis goes for a very, very long walk. The open space of the road felt like weightlessness itself. She just kept breathing, kept walking, like she could outpace her problems.

She found herself at the old Laundromat eventually, deciding to watch the machines spin like she often did when upset, the churning of the water mesmerized her into a calm state. She fell into a soft sleep on the linoleum, she dreamt of her mother, clear lakes and the jaws of a wolf.

\----------------

Peridot slouched down the street, her shoulders ached under the weight of her backpack.

Perspiration gathered on her forehead and made her thighs stick together as she walked. She had decided against wearing the bare minimum of clothing to visit her TA Pearl and that was a mistake.

She took her sweet time getting to the library where the TA usually set up, her morose attitude hopefully repelling the sun off her skin as she walked.

She entered into the chilled building, a mausoleum of books, smelling of stress, unwashed bodies and page after page of dust. She felt at ease, even more so than in her own home.

She trooped over to a table where Pearl sat upright among two stacks of library books, no doubt working on her graduate thesis.

“Ah, Peridot, come to study with me again?” She asked gesturing to the seat next to her.

Peridot nodded slowly, “and see if you could give me tips for the next essay.” She couldn’t get another B, “read it over maybe.”

“Of course,” a genuine smile spread across her thin lips, “I’m always happy to help.”

Peridot took a seat and produced her laptop, it felt like the evening was going to drag on, she resigned herself to it, much as she had for many things.

\---

“Peridot, your historical interpretations just aren’t supporting the evidence.” Pearl explained as she looked over the essay critically.

“What do you mean?” She asked, “the Spanish-American war was started by newspapers. And disproves Democratic Peace theory,” she griped at Pearl’s feedback.

“You're not setting it up in logical paragraph order. And, Spain was a dictatorship at the time, so it does not disprove Democratic Peace theory.”

“Yes it does!” Peridot felt her eye twitch and her voice raise.

“Peridot, calm down.”

“What is it that you want from me?” Peridot yelled as she went red in the face and stood up abruptly, slamming her hands on the table.

Pearl’s face goes blank, calm and collected if not paler. “Is everything alright? You seem off your usual...studying habits.”

Peridot sat down and stared at her hands, she wasn’t one for sharing, especially with Pearl of all people.

“I’ll just rewrite it.” She opened up another book tersely.

“...Alright.”

They studied in silence again for around an hour, turning page after page, working into the night. The only sound being the tip-tap of Peridot’s fingers on the keyboard of her computer.

Finally, Peridot went over to print out her new essay.

“Can you,” she faltered, “read this again?” She propositions in the most polite manner she could muster. She needed an A after all.

“Yes. I can take a look at it.” Pearl took the five page paper from her and retrieved a red pen. She thoroughly read it over, making frequent marks and ‘hmm’ noises.

Peridot resided next to her, still in a state of abject crankiness, and wearing a dour expression on her face.

Pearl finished up with a small cough on her part. She handed the essay back with red jotted in the margins and underlined phrases inking the page like the letters had a street fight.

“Your grammar is impeccable.” She began.

“And?”

“Peridot, how do I put this,” She paused, putting her hands together like a prayer, “this quality of work is not like you.” It’s a soft and gentle accusation. Pity perhaps.

“Oh God,” Peridot rubbed her temples.

“You know I may be your TA, but if you need to...talk. You’re a very good student, I know that experience, you shouldn’t let...something, get in way of that.”

Peridot didn't respond and she looked pointedly out the far window.

“Unless of course you're doing this on purpose.” She suggested wryly.

“No.” Peridot bursts, “No. Look.” She floundered, “there are some _issues_. But let’s get one thing straight, I’m not letting any of it get to me. At all. I’ll just keep doing the essay, alright?”

“Is it an issue I can help with?”

“Not really. It’s personal. And," she cringed, "silly.” Pearl patiently waited for her to finish, she sighed miserably “let’s just say I really liked this person. I thought we were clicking. She’s going out with someone else now. And I am worried about her.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a really stupid relationship.”

Pearl turned to her face her incredibly quickly, looking at her directly in the eye, a determined expression playing across her features.

“Are you committed to her?”

“Um, yes?” Peridot said in surprise at Pearl’s intense mile long stare.

“Love?”

“Maybe.” She’s blushing, her voice small and shy. “Where are you going with this?”

“Sometimes, even if hurts,” she sighed, “the best thing that you can do for love. Is let go. Even if you think the relationship is idiotic. And worthless. And just really dumb. She, they, will be happier with the one they’ve chosen and it’s your job to stand aside. No matter if it personally stings. Do it for her, or him I mean.”

“Her.”

“Do it for her is sometimes the best option.” Now Pearl is the one that seemed down and out, her eyes dart to the left of her face, like she’s remembering.

“But all they do is fight! They fight, and Jasper locked her up I’m certain. It’s bad for both of them, I’ve passed her going to the gym constantly now, and she made Lapis cry.”

“They don’t get along?” She asked in surprise.

“Not at all, I hear them argue.”

“So, you’re saying….it’s abusive?”

“Yeah.”

“And the one you’re dedicated to is in danger?”

“Something like that.”

“That changes everything.” She whispered.

Pearl pursed her lips and looked up to her right.

“Fight for them then.” She said in a slow tone. She suddenly grabbed Peridot’s hand in an iron grip. “Fight for them!” She practically yelled, Peridot flinched and tried to pull away, “Peridot, life is brief, and if you live for someone don’t let them slip away, I mean unless they are happy there with the other person. But if not, then fight!”

Peridot started to nod and nod furiously at Pearl’s absolute conviction.

“Forget your essay. Pack up your things!” Peridot started gathering her things in her arms, mostly to get away from this.

She picked up her bag, Pearl grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her face as they both stood up. “Peridot. Very few things can mean more than the one you hold dear.”

She thrust her into an abrasive hug. “Go. Otherwise you may regret it forever." She whispered in Peridot's ear.

She preceded to fling Peridot off of her and Peridot turned to run, somewhat out of inspiration, mostly out of being weirded out. What kind of women did that sort of thing?

“I believe in you,” she said through cupped hands, “your grammar _is_ impeccable.”

 

Peridot was wholly bewildered.  She should now probably stop making fun of Pearl's crush on the professor, or make fun of her harder.

She still wasn't sure she could do it though, "fight" that is, fight with what skills? Much less win. Depression weighed on her legs as she jogged in the twilight night. Could she?

 


	7. Permanent Press

Re-view

Peridot sat in a sweaty mess in her bedroom, a sheet rested over her head to keep out the light from the window as she surfed the internet.

_How to Construct Lethal Household Items_

She clicked on the article with a high level of interest, blinking the tiredness out of her drooping eyes as the page loaded.

She was finishing the last of a five hour energy on top of a cup of coffee when a knock came at the door.

_Bump, bump_

She had a moment of genuine surprise,

_Bump, bump_

“Be there in a second!”

_Bump, bump, bump_.

“I said a second!” She barked, trying to bookmark her six open tags quickly, most involving some degree of either relationship Cosmo tips or deadly microwaves. She would definitely ‘fight.’

“Get out here!” A voice yells through the door. It was Lapis. Peridot froze what she was doing. It was Lapis.

She fiddled with the end of her jacket strings and had an internal struggle on whether or not to actually emerge. She hadn’t expected this.

“I will find a way in there.” Well, she obviously knew Peridot was home. No escaping that.

She shuffled through the debris on the floor to the door.

“Coming.” She said weakly. Her slightly shaking fingers turned the knob and a marginally annoyed looking Lapis is presented, she tapping her foot on the carpet and holding her hands on her hips.

She was in capri’s and a half shirt. Still cute, and still Peridot’s type in the worst of ways.

“Is there something you want?”

“When is the last time you showered?” She questioned.

Peridot opened her mouth to defend herself against this sort of slander but Lapis was already barging in.

“What are you doing here?”

“Last time?”

“I guess, I mean, I don’t know,” she stumbled over her words “what’s it to you?” She wasn’t going to take this from her. Lapis starts gathering things off the floor.

“Don’t touch my stuff! Why are you here?”

She dropped the things back on the floor in the heap at Peridot’s request, “I saw you in class this morning. I could also smell you too.”

Peridot indignantly flipped her off.

“Jasper also mentioned she hadn’t heard you leave your room in a while.”

“So?”

“So I got worried, you know,” she gave her one of her patented light shoulder touches, “I’m still your friend.”

“You are?” She whispered.

“You bet! That pointy top knot is endearing as heck and I'm here to get your ass in the shower.”

Peridot humphed, “It’s not that bad.”

“Do I have to get you in there myself?” Lapis was already standing in her bathroom scrunching her nose at all the mess. “Ahem,” Lapis caroled her toward the small lavatory.

Peridot looked around and didn’t move as Lapis fixedly stared at her. Lapis broke into a mischievous grin and grabbed the bottom of Peridot’s shirt.

“I can do strip myself,” she tried to push the blue haired girl away, but Lapis’s hands are already working on her.

She barked out a laugh when they get light and fast over her sides, she shook lightly, “Tickling!” She said aghast.

“Revenge!” She had her up against the wall, a personal fantasy of Peridots but not in this way. She laughed herself silly but is able to slide haphazardly into the shower, Lapis following her in until she closed the curtain.

“Enough! Enough! I’ve got it.” She started to strip with a coating red across her cheeks, how many times was she going to keep blushing? She’d have to cut it out now.

She folded her clothes neatly and discreetly slid them onto the ground next to the shower. She could still feel embarrassment overwhelm her at being nude in the other girls vicinity. She also got a whiff of herself. Not a pretty experience after all. She turned the water on to negate the aroma of carelessness and BO.

“Using soap in there?”

“YES, mom.”

“Soccer practice is next, actually wash behind the ears _sweetie_.”

Peridot rolled her eyes then lathered her body with soap, passing over her crusty nails and feet.

She was momentarily put at ease as the feeling of the grime spiraling down the drain and cool water soothing against her heated skin set her nerves to rest.

“Shampoo.”

“Thanks. I actually forgot how to bathe for a second.” Peridot growled with lethal menace, momentarily revealing how hurt she felt (by being denied a relationship.)

“Here to help. Also, what _is_ this, what is  _this_?”

“I can’t see what you’re pointing at.” Peridot said as she picked one of her feet and washed it, flamingo style. “I’m not coming out there. And I’m not sorry for whatever it is.”

“I admire a certain lack of shame, but I am going to have to take the trash out.”

“So, you’re _not_ just going to stand outside my shower this whole time? Did you ask your girlfriend about this?” She bites.

Lapis doesn't respond, Peridot could imagine the hurt look in her eye, she sighed into the water, “...I’m going to go take this out.” Lapis responded in a flat tone.  
She picked something up something then slammed the door behind her.

Peridot bitterly slathered her hair in her shampoo/conditioner combination she owned and clawed her hand through her stringy hair, pulling harder than necessary. Hair came out in her hands, she pulled harder.

Peridot got out and put back on her roughly presentable clothing. She took a deep steadying breaths, staring at her face in the mirror to stall for time. She was forced to look away after the mask of neglect stared back at her, dark circles pooling beneath her eyes, cracked lips and blackheads forming on her forehead.

She had forgotten a couple maintenance procedures on herself.

She brushed her teeth firmly, till her gums bled, then finally walked out of the room.

She emerged to find Lapis kicking clothes into piles and picking up the loose trash into a bag.

“So, are you my mom or my wife now?” She asked to her back.

Lapis jumped, “you’re out!” Lapis tried to smile at her.

“Yes, Ms. Rogers.”

“Took you long enough. Thought you might have gotten confused at what soap was and started to do experiments to unlock its secrets.”

“HA.”

The tension sizzled between them, an underlying anger coloring the experience in sunstroke yellow.

“Okay, so what next? We go out for Windex and white outfits and sterilize everything I own?”

“God no. No, I was thinking studying,” She holds up a text book, “as in I haven’t seen you in class recently.”

Peridot’s mouth goes crooked, well more crooked than usual, Lapis had noticed.

“I don’t need to study. I’m not an idiot like the rest of the milk drinkers in there.” Peridot wasn’t sure if she could handle much more of this prolonged interaction.

“Oh right. Sure.” Lapis grabbed her jacket and a backpack and put it on, “what would you say to at least seeing my notes? Quartz doesn’t teach to the book.”  
She knew that. Knew she should have been showing up, but couldn’t get herself to at the time.

“Maybe, just, alright. We can study. But at the library, not here.”

“No way, this place needs to be sterilized in white suits.” She smiled at her appealingly, trying to appease her. Peridot frowned back and gathered her supplies in silence.

They headed out to hit the pavement and the books. It was awkward, quiet, and then abruptly angry, like the nature of an irregular storm.

They argued about the essay, they argued about if the lady they pass was a satanist or not, they argued about the benefits of orange juice.

It’s hard, because Peridot still see’s her hand in Lapis’s in her minds eye, soft and linked in her own.

Lapis forced Peridot to order a burger to ‘take care of herself,’

“Hamburgers are delicious, it’s still junk food if that’s what you were worried about disrupting your usual diet.”

“Yeah, yeah, just drink your girly milkshake.” Lapis sipped her caramel shake from Five Guys. “And I thought you would cook for me.” She comments sarcastically.

“Maybe next time, when we finish the class. If you pass it. You can bring the water or something.”

“I’ll salt it just for you, ocean style like you like it.”

Lapis laughed, but then tried to stifle herself stubbornly. It hurt.

They walked silently up the large steps of the library into the air conditioned heart of campus.

“I’ll get us some seats, want to get some coffee or something?”

Peridot nodded, the final was only a few days away, not to mention the essay, it would have to be a long night.

She poured extra sugar into Lapis’s cup, pained that she knew how she liked it, and added half and half. Peridot was beyond sugar, too far into coffee to be bothered by the bitterness anymore.

She dragged herself across the stacks of books, appropriately known as ‘The Stacks,’ and into the corner of the library. They had a view of the coffee shop and a few other students.

“Here’s your sugar dream happy-happy latte or whatever.” She puts the drink down next to her, Lapis slipped her some money in compensation.

“Thanks, you are really sweet.” She was trying to appease her again, Peridot edged away, keeping her seat a good arm length away from her.

They sit in tense stillness, propping up books and copying each others notes. Lapis had more of them, but Peridot’s were more detailed.

They only start to talk again when the flashcards come out.

“It’s Alliances of Convenience!”

“No it’s not, it’s Burden Sharing.”

They hassle over the details,

“Were you even paying attention?”

“You haven’t even been to class!”

“Well, maybe I would have if…” She trails off.  
Their eyes meet, everything between them freezing in a river of acid and unsaid words.

“If people like you didn’t have dumb questions to the teacher.” She finishes, “It wastes my time.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s an Alliance of Convenience is all I’m saying. Not of commitment.”

“That ignores cultural, predispositions, and, oh,” she paused, “Steven,”

“Don’t want to forget....Steven?” Peridot popped up an eyebrow.

“No, Steven,” Peridot followed Lapis’s gaze, seeing a brown haired little boy in line at the Laughing Lion’s coffee shop, he spotted Lapis just as she spotted him. She waved at him,

He runs over, Peridot tried to hide her face behind a book, kids weren’t her thing.

“What are you doing here?” Lapis asked excitedly,

“Getting a drink for my mom!” He replied, “it’s been so long Lapis,” He frowned slightly.

“We’ve seen each other in class.” Her forehead wrinkles in guilt.

“Yeah! But I haven’t been going since I started summer camp.”

“What are you doing?” She asked with her eyes sparkling, Steven sat down in the empty seat across from them.

“It’s really cool! We do day trips to the zoo, and I learned tennis with Connie, she’s really good, and I even helped the counselor garden after camp got out.”

“Cool. What are you growing?”

“Some flowers, some watermelon, the only problem is this other kid who keeps taking some of my stuff, he means well, but he had this weird fruit sculpture that he smashed after he made. With the word Steven written under it.”

“Oh, is it that the same kid from….”  
They converse like they old friends even though Lapis is just under 10 years older than him. Peridot doesn’t get it. She also takes her time to mildly study them, eyeing the interaction suspiciously.

They converse until Lapis asked if Steven wanted anything,

“I could use some hot chocolate.” He pronounces bashfully.

“I could go for that too.”

“It’s summer.” Peridot inputs flatly.

“With whip cream on top.”

“ _It’s summer._ ” She repeats at these crazy people.

“Don’t be stodgy Peri, hot chocolate is wonderful.”

“Hot. _Hot_ chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate. Hot chocolate. Hot chocolate.” They start chanting and banging on the table in table. Peridot stared at the display in wonder.

Lapis laughed, “okay, I’m going to go get us some.” Lapis stood up, leaving Peridot alone with Steven. She tried to look resolutely down at the book.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say hi to you.” He began nonplussed, “I was just really excited to see Lapis, she’s my friend from awhile ago, she’s a lot of fun.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Are you Jasper?”

“Absolutely not.” Her pulse speeds up in a hot irritation.

“You must be Peridot then!” Peridot looked up, Lapis had been talking about her. “You’re stories are my favorite. I remember the one where you asked all the questions and Lapis blew raspberries! It was so funny.”

She turned red, “it was something like that.” Steven shifts in his seat under her flat look.

“I think I met Jasper before, I just didn’t know her name, or what either of you looked like, I’m glad this is you.”

“You met Jasper?” She asked tentatively.

“Yeah,” he said, brightening up at her sudden interest. “She was at the Big Donut with Lapis, she ate like five donuts in a row, I was going to say that was a lot and kind of cool. But Lapis got mad about something and they ran out. I hope it’s okay now.”

Peridot processed this new information, she guessed it made sense they argued about things in all sorts of places. And we’re going to cute dates for donuts. She sighed deeply.  
“I think they didn’t look happy. And Lapis wouldn’t say anything about it after class.”

“As in?”

He looks up, “do you like Lapis?”

“Umm, I, Uh, I.”

“She really wanted friends when she got here.”

“Oh yeah, we’re friends.” She deflated, relieved to not reveal all to some boy in a library.

“Then maybe, you could talk to her?”

“Maybe you could.”

“Mmm. We both could!”

Lapis returned with drinks and Peridot’s strange conversation with the boy was over. What was with people and giving her advice about this thing? But maybe, maybe, she should start acting more like a friend to Lapis. She hadn’t been very good at that, Steven was right.

“Okay, hot chocolate, HOT, and delicious.”

“Barbarians.”

They laugh at her in tandem. They sip the beverage and continue chatting until Steven said he has to go since it was late, and his mom probably needed her coffee. He waved back at them as he left.

“So, you talked to Steven when I was gone.” She turned to Peridot. “And?” 

She paused, “He’s a really nice kid.”

“I know! We should all go to the beach sometime, he wants to go to the boardwalk.”

Making another beach trip sounded unfortunate to Peridot, bittersweet.

“Yeah, we could do that.” But she was going to be a friend, she could definitely do that. Lapis sits up straighter at her accommodating reply.

They go to their flashcards in much more amiable state, Lapis brightens up at her new nicer attitude.

By 11 they are discussing the mysterious background of Mrs. Quartz and getting along.

“I’m telling you I think she was part of a biker gang.”

“No way,” Peridot sniffed, “that’s too far, I mean she might have been in the marines, but I just don’t see it. No tattoos.”

“None that we can _see_.”

Peridot laughed, “okay, but you at least have to concede she has tenure. I can just tell by all the weird jokes she makes in class, can’t get fired.”

“Weird? Hilarious I think you mean. But, counterpoint, she wouldn’t have to write and do other junk to make money otherwise.”

“I can’t see her writing about anything, she complains about the workload all the time, and talks about how lazy she is on weekends.”

“She’s joking. Okay, c’mon, get up.” Lapis stood resolutely. She latched onto Peridot’s upper arm and lightly tugged.

“Um.”

“Follow me.”

“I mean, I guess.”

They walk into the heart of The Stacks, dusty and devoid of life, tens of bookcases away from civilization.

“Okay, Lapis, I believe you, no need to go this far out, I feel like we could get lost.”

“No way, I’m proving this to your dumb face.”

Lapis finally knelt down on the dusty thin carpet at aisle Q12, she rifled through several sections until she pulled out a pink hardback.

“What is that? A romance?”

“Sci-fi! We should read it.”

She snorted, “I can’t believe Professor Quartz wrote a book.” She stared at the neat letters of ‘Rose Q.’ printed on the front cover.

“You would know that if you came to class, she mentioned it.”

Peridot frowned deeply, “True.” She said softly, “I guess I was just,” she hesitated, she was being friendly, “avoiding Pearl!”

“What?”

“She gave me a B. It was pretty upsetting for me.”

“You were upset about something? And you didn’t say anything?” Lapis got up and stood directly in front of her.

She shrugged and didn’t look Lapis in the eye, “I guess I thought you were uh, distracted by the new relationship. Honeymoon period.”  
The buzz of the swamp cooler fills the air, Lapis steps closer, her face unreadable.

“Bullshit.”

“I mean,”

“You know,” she said heatedly, “all we do is argue. And kiss sometimes and even then it’s _suffocating_.”

“Oh Lapis.” She whispered sympathetically.

“And you’re going to lie to me.”

“No! I really was fucked up by the B.”

“I know you weren’t going to class to avoid seeing me, I know, because…Anyway, I felt guilty, but if you don’t want to spend time together, I guess, I guess.”

“Please don’t, I won’t be weird around you anymore, promise.”

“What?”

“I want to be friends, like you said, like Steven friends, I don’t have to have this crush on you, we can just hang out.”

“Peridot.”

“I liked you. But we don’t have to be mad forever.” She whines in the most honest she think she’s been in years. But she had to do this.

Peridot looked down to look at her again, her eyes like mirrors reflecting back at her gaunt face. She looked up at the ceiling.

Delicate lips brushed up against her own in an off center kiss.

“Lapis.” She said in surprise when she pulled away from the soft press.

“Shh,” Lapis pushed her up against the bookcase. She kissed her deeply in an closed mouth embrace.

“You have a girlfriend,” she breathed when they part again.

“Kiss me.” Peridot pushed up against her roughly, Lapis returned the pressure and pined her against the bookshelf, Peridot felt the book corners sharply poke into her back. She doesn’t care.

The taste of Lapis’s mouth consumed her, a cherry flavor with a tinge of chemicals, a hint of chocolate from the previous drink. Lips, somewhat chapped and rough, collided across her own cracked mouth.

Their lips gently move across one other, tongues briefly licking and teeth lightly biting. Peridot finally wraps her arms around the smaller girl neck and they fully come together, her soft chest and legs against her own, and mouth moving back and forth.

When they finally pull apart, breathing hard with hooded eyes and dark stares it is even later in the night.

“We should go.” Peridot whispered, her hands lingering on the other girl's waist.

Lapis nodded, Peridot leads her out The Stacks by the hand.

In a daze, not making eye contact, they collect their things, Lapis checked out Quartz’s book and they make their way slowly home like syrup slipping down glass.

“and Cheshire looked at Nimo. He felt his heart sigh, but he knew his duty came first. He _would_ have to give her up _for the galaxy_.”

Peridot laughed out loud, Lapis joined in, it had turned out to be a sci-fi romance, and Quartz may have been good at many things, this one was not one. It was painfully cheesy, in a lovely way.

“He picked up his doubled edged galactica star sword.”

“Really?” She snickered again, Lapis thaps her,

“Let me read,”

“We’re almost home though.”

“Oh.” She marked their place at the random page they had opened up to.

“Thanks, thanks for this,” Peridot said as they stood by her door scratching her wrist manically.

“No problem. I really wanted to.”

“I’m glad.” She opened her door lamely and gave Lapis one last look.

“What are you doing?” Lapis asked, hands on hips.

“Um, saying good night? Did you want to…” She trails off, kiss?

“Oh no, I saw all of your laundry, I’m not done with you yet.”

“Do you really think that’s important.”

“Do you have anything to wear tomorrow?”

No.

She doesn’t respond.

“As I thought.” Lapis intruded back into her room, “and then we’ll work on the flies tomorrow.”

“I like the flies,” she said defensively, “they remind me of you.”

“Ha, ha.”

They gathered her clothes up into a trash bag, Peridot made a point to collect all her ‘delicates’ herself.

They head into the night high on coffee and hyper energy of being cooped up in a library too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guess who is a HEATHEN, it's me, as in heads up the next chapter is smut; HOWEVER, I am vaguely attached to me teen/gen rating so it may be uploaded as a separate story depending on stuff, and I'll put the link in the notes if it is.


	8. Loose Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION YOUNGER READERS, PLEASE SKIP THIS CHAPTER, thank you

The Curve

Peridot smashed their mouths together. It was more of bite than a kiss but Lapis leaned into it.

They had made it to the laundromat with barely any conversation, just a strong understanding threading between them like a heated promise. On arrival they embraced. No communication, only tongues and lips and rasping breaths.

She grabbed onto her shoulders and held tight, an iron like grip that encased her like the jaws of a oncoming snapping turtle. It hurt, but so would not doing it.

Peridot wrapped her arms around her waist and drew her in, pressing their bodies together, Lapis let out a low guttural noise in the back of her throat.

Peridot moved her mouth down, latching onto Lapis’s throat and coaxing out throaty hums, her short nails dug into her shoulders.

“Sorry…” She breathed as she stared at her neck at the small mark she made there.

“What?” She was barely audible.

“Hickies.”

“Bite me.” She ordered. Peridot without complaint complied, leaning Lapis back onto a washing machine. Lapis made breathy noises as she licked and nipped at her neck until she grabbed Peridot by the shoulders and pushed her back.

Before Peridot can blink in surprise Lapis is mashing their mouths together in the middle of the darkened business. She took her breath away, an opened mouth kiss that Peridot lit up like a 19th century lightbulb at. It was the flavor of Lapis, Lapis Lapis: musky, soft, a hint of lingering hot chocolate and sea salt.

Lapis lapped at the roof of her mouth, Peridot let her, let her in, their mouths moved over each other’s in a rapid rhythm. It was a pull-push dichotomy, leaving Peridot less of a self aware person and more of an abstract concept trying to exist through a brain thick with lust.

She whined wordlessly when Lapis pulled away, her fingers trail after her as she turned around.

Lapis walked over to a very rickety washing machine with a missing nozzle and several significant dents in its sides.

She leaned up against it, looking at Peridot with hooded eyes, Peridot can barely swallow.

“Peridot,” she breathes. “Close the shades.”

Peridot hopped to the order, scrambling to fiddle with the annoying shades across the large window that took up the foremost wall. When she finished she approached to the door and flipped the wooden sign to ‘Closed,’ locking the door with utmost care.

When she turned back around Lapis was putting change into the battered monsterity in the corner, having already dumped Peridot’s clothes in. Peridot somehow approached quietly despite her oversized feet.

She massaged her fingers across the small of her sides, wrapping her long fingers around Lapis's petite waist.

“You...you still have a girlfriend.” She whispered into her hair, holding onto her firmly in her grip. Lapis choked and then chuckled, she turned around in Peridot’s grasp and stared at her, her face inches from her own.

She gives her a sweet kiss on the lips, slow and certain.

“Mmm. Girlf-”

“Shhh, ” She hushed her and shook her head. “Come closer.” Peridot shakily curved her back downwards. Lapis pushed her breasts against Peridot’s, small and perky Peridot can feel the nipples through her thin bra. She shuddered from head to foot. "Peridot. I'm free." Lapis mumbled into Peridot's collarbone, "I do as I want." 

Peridot stopped caring about the implications of what this meant. She was young. She was horny.

She almost completely looses it when Lapis juts her leg out in between Peridot’s legs.

“Ah.” She cried out involuntarily at the sudden pressure, Lapis took her open mouth as an opportunity to bite her lower lip, opening her mouth up to a brief tongue kiss, sloppy and intense for a brilliant moment.

Lapis pulled away a second later, backing up into the machine itself, eyeing Peridot slyly. She pushed Peridot away a few inches and then pulled out a small towel from her purse beside her.

“Huh?” Even through the haze of lust Peridot was confused.

Lapis placed the towel on the violently shaking machine and Peridot’s brain put it all together like a sexual fantasy jigsaw puzzle. Her eyes go wide.

Lapis hopped on the appliance and immediately threw her head back,

“Uh.” She whimpered. She started a very shallow tempo going up and down on the vibrating monstrosity, Peridot can only watch with an open mouth.

Lapis looked back of her, meeting her eyes as she rides the machine in sexual miasma, self-masturbation before her eyes.

“Feel me.” Lapis grabbed the other girls shaking hands and lowered them down her shoulders, achingly slow, until Peridot is cusping her breasts while she rides the machine, legs open wide.

“Lapis,” she said as softly as possible, delicately, like unwrapping a present with her tongue.

Peridot felt so many things it was like a white elephant of emotion, uncertainty, determination- though wonder was at the top of her list, “you’re beautiful.”  
She snickered, but leaned in and kissed her chastly. Peridot squeezed down gently on the A cups, the other girl shivered before her.

Peridot decided to take some matters into her own hands and linked them across her back, feeling her way around to the bra clasp. She was so glad she knew what the hell she was doing or else her numb shaking fingers could never have been able to undo it.

She unclasped her bra, she came back around and watched Lapis’s face, hoping her initiative would have no negative effects.

“Sorry,” she gulped, Lapis shook her head and then nimbly swung off the undergarment with her shirt still on. It was light blue with lace and a white bow. “Cute.” She’s blushing.

“You’re cute.” She pushed her on the shoulder playfully.

“What,” Peridot finally lets out, “are we doing?” Peridot had no idea what she was doing, she had barely kissed someone before tonight.

“You don’t have some wish fulfillment?” Lapis tilted her head, and leaned backward, her legs spread wider and thin top revealing all. Damn straight it was a fantasy.

Peridot gets on her knees and kisses the inside of her thigh.

“Peridot!” She squeaked from on high, toes curling besides her head as Peridot bit and licked her inner thigh. “Wait, wait, come up here.”

Peridot halted, her face peering up at the other girl from in between her legs, “you don’t like it?”

“No. I just want to see your face.”

Peridot got up bashfully, her face was a guant mask with a crooked mouth, she wasn’t sad about it, but she didn’t get Lapis’s point.

She stood up uncomfortably, Lapis, still riding the machine, leaned forward and kissed her cheek, “take off your pants.”

Peridot complied instantly, trying to suppress the shyness and the fact she was wearing underwear with little space ships on them.

Lapis snickered at her, “space ships.”

“Some of us are less lace oriented.”

“Is that an insult.”

“It’s...no.” She can’t form words really well right now. “It’s factual.”

“Well lift off. Come up here with me.”

Peridot saddled herself awkwardly on the machine, legs overlapping Lapis’s as they sit in a style children would call ‘giraffe.’

“No, put it behind me,”

“like that?”

“Yeah, hooked around,” They fumble abstractly, Peridot leaned forward, Lapis moved her head, their noses collide.

“Ow!”

“Oof!”

They both hold their noses and then stare back at each other, they break into laughter, this was ridiculous.

“Sit down properly.” Peridot lowered her full weight down, placing herself positioned forward on the machine. She immediately gasped. The vibrations sent a tremor through her body, through her clit.

She groaned and leaned her head forward onto Lapis’s shoulder, taking deep breaths as she can already feeling a pressure pooling in her sacrum.

The stimulated the small bundle of nerves, hot and tingly, an unrelenting push with little means escape. When she leaned backwards off the machine Lapis would grab her shoulders and gently push her flat against the top of the vibrations.

She laughed at every discoloration on Peridot’s face. When Peridot’s senses come back to her a little sharper she took her hands and rubbed circles into Lapis’s hips, little circles until she upped the pressure and firmly pushed her down.

“OH my GOd.” She spouted unevenly, her pupils shot to hell and back again.

Peridot lowered her head, lapping at Lapis’s collar bone and fingers ghosting over the bottom of her shirt.

“Can I?” She finally asked softly.

Lapis nodded, she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and yanked it above her head. Peridot felt a thrill of elation. She wanted to meld with Lapis, understand her, be inside her, eat her alive.

In a flash of hunger, Peridot bit Lapis’s neck, she pecked her way down to her chest, delicately placing an erect nipple in her mouth and sucked roughly.

“OH, uh,” She whined, and arched her back.

Peridot placed her hand on her waist to steady her and started licking and sucking and rubbing. It’s true she had no idea what she was doing, but dammit if she wasn’t going to do it.

She sucked on the pert nipple in her mouth, massaging the other one and building a rhythm.

“Peridot, you’re, you’re I,” She could barely form words as the vibrations no doubt built up and the unrelenting stimulation of Peridot’s wet mouth sent her over the edge.

A mini orgasm seemed to course through the other girl, she spasmed lightly, and threw her head back in an open mouthed climax, a small and vocal cry elicited from deep within her chest.

When she came down she was breathing hard and latching her hand through Peridot’s hair, massaging her scalp and tugging lightly.

Peridot moved her head to the left nipple, other hand firmly on her hip. She began the process again, licking and sucking and keeping the pressure on, Lapis’s body answered in tandem with light hip thrusts and her yanking on her hair.

The hair pull was hard and graceless, a rough strain on her scalp. Peridot has never been more turned on in her life.

Lapis is much closer this time, having just come down from her first, her second is violent and loud. Hands clawing down her back and mouth forming a long whimper.

She moans one long guttural sound, her face a goofy clenched mess and she has several long moments of toe curling and back arching. Peridot holds her all the way through it and couldn’t believe this was happening to her.

Like really couldn’t believe it. Peridot was the geek with bad people skills, not the one with a beautiful girl in her lap that was both taken by someone else, and cumming like an open blooming flower. Her self image was rumpled and smeared in this other girl's hand.

She nibbled on her neck when Lapis had the presence of mind to be human again.

Small tears had formed in her eyes from screwing them shut so tightly, she rubbed them away with the heel of her hand and smiled at Peridot weakly.

She sighed, “wonderful.”

“One to ten?”

“Pi.”

“That’s around a 3 you know. Did you pass math?” She teased.

“It’s like, I’ll buy you pie in appreciation. There you go.”

“That good, huh, what type?”

“Whatever you like.”

Her eyes noticeably gather at Lapis’s groin, “I can think of a type.”

Lapis laughed, and attempted to kick her, they fumbled around on the small surface. Peridot became unbalanced, but right themselves as they chuckle.

The machine buzzed in the silent post-orgasm evening, the atmosphere pink and soft as their eyes meet. She dipped in and kissed her cheek.

“Turn around. _And take this off_.” She said in an annoyed tone as she fiddled with the end of Peridot’s shirt.

“Bossy.” She mumbled, and she loved it.

Her bra and green muscle shirt came off in one go under Lapis’s slim fingers.

“Are you a C?” She asks with interest as she stared at Peridot’s chest.

“Yeah. How did you know?” She returned, blushing furiously in the face, no one had ever looked at her like that- like a painting or an act of God. No one looked at her like this.

“Because I like what I C.”

Peridot facepalmed and took everything she just thought about back.

“I’m sorry I have to leave. I can’t have sex with you anymore.”

Lapis laughed, “what’s a good pun between friends? C’mon, sit still.”

“Friends?” Peridot’s eyes go wide. Is that what she still was? What _was_ any of this?

“Yeah,” Lapis said, her voice going husky and deep, “let me show you what friends do.”

She cupped her breasts and kissed her on the mouth.

Peridot did not know how to feel, and also did not know groping would feel like this. She had rubbed her own chest before, but foreign hands, small and hard on her skin, pressing in was a whole new world. An electric spark to her hardwiring. She squeaked in the back her throat as the vibrations and the attention to her front sent a fire to her pelvis and her brain.

“Now, turn around.” Peridot finally complied, untangling her legs from on top of Lapis’s and sitting on the edge of the machine. It was easier to press her clit down and she groaned as she perched on the side.

Lapis came up from behind and placed her own legs in a wide stance around Peridot, her naked chest pressed against her back. It’s becoming too much for her, too surreal. She had no choice but to give in.

Lapis hands trailed down Peridot’s body, she kissed her back in fluttery light touches and left small pecks on each of her vertebrate.

Her heart ricocheted in her chest and she tried not to think about love, but all she she was drawn back to was oceans, gardens and whirlpools.

She grabbed the side of the machine when Lapis fingers make their move, moving slightly up and down her thigh, and dancing across her lower abdomen. 

“May I?” Her fingers traced the elastic of her panties.

“Yeah!” She squawked her enthusiastic consent.

Lapis’s hand dove into her underwear, the last piece of clothing she had on.

“Mmmm.” She made a high pitched noise, lungs seizing up on her.

Lapis fingers pet the ridges around Peridots wet opening, gently circling the hole in a teasing touch.

“Eep.” She made strange involuntary sounds.

She pinched and massaged, her digits playing with the sensitive skin like cat with a mouse, Peridot could already feel everything being lost to her, the state of pelvis reminiscent of a crumbling city.

The heel of Lapis’s hand finally cupped her clit, roughly jostling it and sending her into a tailspin.

She sets a rhythm of teasing her sex, stimulating it and petting the surrounding area until it’s too much for her.

She came in a wave of pleasure and white, white, white, her brain doing a funny little dance and her face contorting, every muscle clenched and empty space took up the place in her brain her thoughts usually were.

She came like it’s her last feeling she’d ever have.

It’s a brief but very intense orgasm.

“Good?” Lapis inquires before biting her ear lightly.

“I can’t, Lapis you’re, love-ly.” She stopped herself uttering the L word, preventing mortifying embarrassment. But Lapis might be able to sense it from the tone, the tenderness.

Lapis kept going. Her hand brushing softly against the clit, not roughly rubbing it raw like Peridot sometimes did in a fit of impatience.

She gently touched it, rubbed it like a sweet caress that sent her into flutters and quivering, the vibrations from the machine l a constant itch and relentless suffocation combine to make it almost unbearable.

Lapis stopped playing and dove her delicate fingers into Peridot’s hole, her whole body stiffened, Lapis crooked her finger inside and thrusted in and out, the meat of her hand still arched to meet her pleasure center.

She began with one finger thrusting in and out, but quickly moved to two, stretching her and scissoring her fingers inside until Peridot was a mess of strange noises and loose jerks of her hips.

Lapis fits three fingers into her, a record for her. And she arched into her hand and Lapis thrusted in, fucking her in the dim musty laundromat like a modern art piece.

She was cumming again in a wave of heat and sound. Her brain went numb, body becoming a mere dream and she herself just floating away on a river of release.

She came down, and there are tears in her eyes too.

She heaved a shaking sigh, and her legs and upper arms quaked, she hung her head.

Lapis pressed in again in a final push, crooking her fingers inside her and sending a consuming sensation through her entire pelvis.

Peridot is cumming again barely recovered from the end of her second one. It is smaller, but almost painful, heated and affectionate, Lapis holding her across the chest so she doesn’t fall.

It’s terrifying. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

She shook and panted, her heart beating like a jackhammer on a construction site, she wiped away her own wet eye sockets. Lapis touched her clit.

“W-ait,” she finds her voice somehow, “can’t” she pants, “do anymore.”

She can feel Lapis grinning behind her smugly, “okay.” She croons.

They rest momentarily, Lapis’s arms hugged her from behind, her sweaty forehead resting on her shoulder. It’s quite and heart breaking.

Lapis kissed the back of her head, Peridot turns around and pressed their foreheads together. She closes her eyes in a moment of calm.

She proceeded to hop off the laundry machine on shaking legs, they ache like she ran a marathon, and turn to the other girl, leaning forward on the appliance.

“Why this?”

She shrugged, “I like you. A lot. I think we should fuck.”

“That’s all I need. I guess.” She responded haltingly

“No, it’s not.”

Peridot looked down. she got down on her knees.

“What are doing?”

“I came three times. You did two.” She bluntly explained. "The scoreboard is off."

“I’m sweaty Peridot. Like, very, gross.”

“It’s alright.” She cooed. “I can take care of you.” She didn't know what she’s saying, but she was trying.

She opened her legs, her face a variation of pink. “Alright, gigabytes.” She said in shaking tones and a small voice. “I’ll give you a chance.” She sniffed.

Peridot buried her face.

She descended in between Lapis’s legs, licking the inner thighs as she went and making little circles with her tongue along the sensitive skin.

Lapis keened in little breathy huffs.

Peridot was lucky Lapis shaved ‘down under’ unlike herself or else she feared she might lose momentum, she trailed her tongue across the vulnerable section of skin where her thigh met her pelvis.

“Peridot!” She exclaimed. Peridot licked the outer folds of her sex. Lapis started babbling, laughing, she flicks her tongue across the clit, finding the little boy in the boat and sucking, hard. Lapis becomes incomprehensible.

Peridot began a steady pattern, drawing the A, B, C’s across her opening and briefly stimulating the clit in sudden bursts. Lapis leaned backward at some point and let out approving to miserable noises.

Peridot circled the hole until she picked a fast pace of tongue fucking into the sanctum. Lapis curled into herself, Peridot could feel her head going light, only faintly remembering what breathing was.

The machine gives a violent shake  Lapis falls off the compliance onto her feet, Peridot leaned backwards in response. Lapis's eyes are still screwed shut and doesn’t look like she’s perturbed. Peridot continued her business.

She stood on her feet, curled downwards and sitting on Peridot’s face, eating her out in the eerie hush of night, surrounded by washing machines.

Lapis leaned on the compliance across from the one she fell off, placing her forearms on it. Peridot gives a final suck to her pleasure center and Lapis is cumming. Peridot’s tongue is still inside her, guiding her through the last rush of color and warmth. She lapped up the releases and tasted the bitter musk. It was worth it.

Lapis danced off the other girls face, Peridot took a deep gasping breath.

Lapis stared at the ceiling in a daze for several long moments before looking down at Peridot catching her breath, she chuckled, “sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She said truthfully.

She gestured for her to come to her. Lapis stepped over on unsteady legs. She knelt down to her before cuddling up closer. Peridot tucked Lapis’s bodies into her own, fitting her under her chin and her back pressed to her side.

Peridot steadily stroked her shoulder for a quite long moments, the moon shined through the shades onto the floor and it was quiet as the machine finished its last gasping, sputtering rumble. She pets Lapis's back steadily.

The cold linoleum is uncomfortable under her heated skin but the body next to her is distraction enough from the chill.

“Lapis?”

“Yeah.”

“This turned out strangely.”

She hummed thoughtfully, “And I thought you were just come rude girl with weird bathing habits.”

“I am.”

“And you liked me. I am mess you know.”

“You are.”

Here chest shook in a laugh.

“I got scared.”

“What?”

“But this, this is what I always wanted.”

“Me-me too. I never, never, thought a cute girl would like me.”

“Well, better late then never. You always had this coming gigabytes.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“That’s the problem, you thought you didn’t. But we’re both problems. But you’re, like, something else. I don’t see a lot of girls who try so hard or are so clever, or bizarrely confident. You're like my hero.”

Her eyes gather motor oil. “You’re, uh, sunshine?” She tried out poetry.

“Nice try.” She snickered.

“You’re an idiot.” She answered truthfully, “And you made me want to stop and be a little _more_. Of myself. ” And I love you, I love you, I love you. The words didn't come out, she stopped them behind her teeth like holding flames or marbles behind the dam of her self containment.

“Me too.”

Lapis settled down against her, Peridot can feel her lightly fall into a sleep. Peridot can feel her own eyelids drooping, saddled with thick sleepiness and a need to pass out of this world.

She wrapped Lapis closer to her and faded deeper into the oncoming unconsciousness.

\--------

Peridot jolted awake to the rude intrusion of knocking. Someone was banging on the door and hollering into the room. That’s right, they were in an establishment. For other people.

Peridot tried to jump to her feet but Lapis’s body was plastered against her’s, warm and weighing her down.

“We’re in trouble.” She slurred out from her heavy, worn out tongue.

Lapis placed her hand over Peridot’s shoulder, clinging to her. She paused, but the banging resumed.

“ _No really_.”

Lapis’s bright eyes opened slowly, like venus fly traps after a meal.

Banging on the glass door increased. Lapis’s eyes flew open.

She laughed the entire time in spurts as they gathered the clothes from last night, ie the damp contents of Peridot’s entire wardrobe from the washing machine. She’d have to line dry.

They run away from Lars, darting out the door as he cursed at them passionately.

“You fucking idiots, what were even doing in there? I could get in so much shit if~” His words faded away as they ran.

They walk the whole way home in animated affection. Little stares. Lite hand touches, winks and smirks.

Peridot made it home and they passionately kissed goodbye at her door as the sun rises just through the far window. Peridot pressing Lapis into the door.

She felt in the her bones it had been a good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: Chapter has been edited, with some stuff from the end of this one moved to the beginning of the next chapter for thematic grouping reasons n'junk.
> 
> Also, bonus extra fun fact- here is theme song for this chapter, and the entire fic due to it being super gay and the fact I listened to it 1448.88 times while writing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY2Uj8pucRQ


	9. Stains

Finals

Laspis was halfway gone when they both heard music rustling through the wall. Peridot's blood ran cold. That was Jasper getting ready for her early morning jog.

Lapis froze too at the sound and turned around, they stared at each other, Jasper's door between them like a chasm.

Lapis’s eyes were wide, hands shaking, she finally whispered “we can’t do this again.” In the thralls of some sort of realization.

“What? No!" Peridot exclaimed in disbelief, "Leave her, you, uh, _you_ ,” She stopped herself from any bad words.

“We’re together now Peridot. For better or worse, it helps her. And we have our reasons.”

Peridot sniffed. “But tonight…”

She trotted back to her, taking her hand in hers. Holding them.

“You’re my best friend.”

“Gay.” She said lamely, trying to cover up her hands shaking with rage, grief.

“It is. But we can’t do this again. It was... _random_.”

“No, it wasn’t. And you two are terrible for each other.”

“I’m sorry Peridot. It’s who we are now.” She didn't know what to say, the shock was too much. Her figure disappeared down the hallway.

Peridot collapsed in her doorway like a heap of dry wood blown over by the wind.

 

\----------

It took her hours but eventually she got back up again, she stood, she thought, she felt resolution harden in her gut like lead paint drying.

The words ‘fight’ echoed in her head in Pearl’s shrill voice, a piercing light in her blurry consciousness. She got to work.

\----------

 

Peridot was in her kitchen for the first time in days, this time putting the final touches on her contraption. It was perfect, it was revolutionary, she was a genius.

She set up a series of wires below the handle.

Peridot snuck back into her room. Now she only had to wait. She sat herself down next to the door, ear close to the wood as she giggled maniacally.

Her legs became stiff and numb underneath her from waiting, she ended up laying her head against the wall of her apartment and kicking some burrito wrappers away to stretch her limbs out.

She started drifting off, dreaming of Lapis’s legs, lovely and well-shaped, walking on the beach like silhouettes framed by the promise of sunrise.

Peridot had slept a collection of 6 hours in the past two days, as a result her dreams now were frantic and disturbed.

 

Peridot was in a garden, her feet invisible, she couldn’t feel her hands, she wandered through a snaking garden filled with yellow roses sightlessly.

She saw a car, long and pink, she couldn't place the model.

She made her way through the sea of yellow to it, but her feet wouldn't go, trapped in the thorns beneath her. Her glasses fogged up with white mist, she tried to wipe it away. Her hand brushed over a large flower, it feels like velvet against her skin.

She took her glasses off and picked up the plant, staring into the folded petals. It started to bubble and twist in her hand, wrapping itself around her arm, a yellow snake encompassing her entire body in it’s girth.

She fell backward as the snake grew longer and longer, it hissed and flicked it’s tongue at her. She somehow wasn’t afraid though something told her she should be. She felt numb, and heavy, entrapped in the snakes sinewy muscles.

“I have no regrets.”

She’s speaking to someone driving the car, she’s lying in the backseat, the snake still wrapped around her.

The sky is blue, an endless blue the color of robin breasts and the Caribbean ocean.

The man driving the car spoke to her, she leaned forward to hear it, she couldn’t make the words however. She scowled, and then she was falling into the sky against her will.

“Good luck.” The man’s voice became suddenly clear.

Gravity had reversed itself and she sailed weightlessly into the blue.

The snake unfurled itself from around her.

“Come back.” She seemed to say, but it had already grown long yellow wings and flapped into the horizon.

She fell, serenely, unquestioningly into the sky, only to be interrupted by running into a blackbird. Her back crashed into it and she twisted around to grab onto it’s inky black wings. She held it far from her face, and examined it mutely. It looked like a hedgehog mixed with a crow.

Lightning struck the air next to her like a train crash against her eardrum.

Before she can react the bird started screaming, a wordless pained expression. She threw it away from her, it only got closer and screamed in her face.

Peridot jolted awake, startled by her own subconsciousness.

“ _Aaaaah_.” The scream was real.

Peridot hobbled to her feet, trying to shake off the disturbing sleep. However, after her restless nap her head was clear enough to realize _she was all out insane_.

She threw the door open to the kitchen and ran in,

“Jasper!” Jasper was clutching her right hand and looking more furious than she had ever seen someone, face screwed up in a wrinkled mask of fury.

Peridot realized it might have better not to rush in and stepped backwards.

Jasper looked over at her and chased her into her own room one slow weighted step after another.

“ _You tried to electrocute me??_ ”

“Hold on, let’s talk.” Peridot put her hands up in a defensive position and backed up.

“ _You literally tried to electrocute me._ ” She repeated, “You bitch.”

“A fair assessment.” Peridot put her pointer finger up, “but consider this.” She racked her brain for something to say, “no?”

Jasper roared, “With my own toaster!”

Peridot flinched, “Well when you put it that way…”

“That is how I would put it, yes, and all because you what? You don’t have the girl? I could have died.”

“I mean... probably not. Reflecting back on my calculations I can see how they were off from causing any..lasting damage.”

“Then what were you trying to do then?”

“Uh…” Something told her she shouldn’t answer that.

“Ag!” She threw her hands in the air and stomped into the other room,

“Don’t move!” She yelled over her shoulder, “I’m going to make a phone call.”

Peridot suddenly had flashes of having to explain this to the police, ‘but no officer, I really liked this girl. Like, a lot.’

She face palms having a mild internal freak out.

“Okay, Jasper, what if we, ideal, never talk about this again, and maybe I do your homework for the next- until we graduate?”

Jasper loped back into Peridot’s room where Peridot slumping down, only mildly cowering in her beanbag chair. Should she run? Jump out the window, get a new name and start over.

“Do you even know anything about women’s studies?” She crossed her arms, flinching painfully when her right hand brushed her elbow.

“Not, I mean, I could learn.”

“No. That’s what I thought.”

“Well, let’s see there must be something I could uh, give you.” Peridot was a shameless brown noser, and damn if she wouldn’t use it.

“There was. But I guess I never fully won that.”

Lapis? It was Lapis wasn’t it. The glow of pride swells in her chest against all odds.

“But what, you thought I was just a cartoon villain you could just put in the ground?”

“I mean I wouldn’t say put in the ground?”

“Really? You didn’t just think ‘die, die, die’ in your head as you made that?”

“Honestly Jasper,” She chuckled nervously. In Peridot’s sleep deprived state that might not have been far fetched.

“I’m a person!”

Peridot fidgeted, still wondering what she was going to tell the police, ‘it wasn’t murder if it didn’t work! haha,’ not that that was what it was meant to be...She guessed.

A knock came at the door before Peridot had to answer. Her mind ricocheted with different lies. 'Officer. I was framed, the electrician is a douche.' 

“Jasper? Why did you want to meet me at Peridot’s place?”

Peridot and Jasper share a look, Peridot’s eyes go wide, Jasper looked self-satisfied, Peridot had not thought this through.

“N-no.” her voice shook. Okay, but couldn't the cops just arrest her first.

Jasper went up to the door, unlocked it and triumphantly swung it open with a smug grin.

“Lapis. Come in. I have something to show you.” She said in a surprisingly calm manner, a silky undertone in play.

“I have something I want to talk to you about too.” Lapis replied hesitantly, her eyes averted downward.

“This first, come in, come in.”

“Okay, what are you and Peridot doing together exactly?” She entered the room, she was in blue overalls and and a flower in her hair.

“Lapis.” Jasper said slowly, “look at my hand,” she raised her lightly charred fingertips, discolored to a darker color.

“Uh?”

“They are burned!”

“I’m sorry.” She said sympathetically. “I guess that looks like it hurts.”

“She did this!” She pointed accusatively at Peridot who shirked away. Jasper made a frustrated noise when Lapis just looks at her blankly. She then dramatically sashayed into the kitchen, leaving Peridot and Lapis to stare at each other awkwardly. 

“Is she losing it?” Lapis mouthed.

Peridot shook her head in a noncommittal manner, as in as vague as possible.

“She made this into a trap!’ Jasper hauled in the toaster carefully, wires slightly exposed around the lever and contents still smoking.

“What?’ Lapis’s eyes go wide, “what kind of…” She trails off, “You’re kidding.”

“Tell her.” Jasper looked at Peridot and indicated Lapis with a thrust of her chin.

“Nothing can be proven in the court of law.” Peridot said flatly, one of her eyes twitching.

“What?!” Lapis said shrilly, “you _what_?!”

“It, uh, didn’t work.”

Lapis’s jaw hung open. Jasper grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face her.

“See, Lapis? She’s _not_ the lovable dork your all over.”

“You’re making this about _that_?” Lapis’s voice got heated.

“I’m just saying, one of us didn’t try to blatantly murder the other.”

“I resent that statement.”

“So what?” Lapis asked directly to Jasper.

“So, you can stop liking her now! I see the way you two intermingle.”

“You can’t dictate how I feel.”

“If we’re going out-”

“You. Can’t. Control. How. I-”

“You’re not listening.”

“No Jasper, I’ve been meaning to get to this out for long time now.” She takes a deep breath, “This isn’t going to work.”

Jasper’s face falls, eyes creasing and breath releasing audibly like a deflated balloon. Peridot can’t believe her eyes on what she’s being privy too.

“Lapis. Wait. I’m injured. And Peridot is, is the worst.” She whined as she held her hand up to her face.

“Jasper, look, we weren’t happy. At least I wasn’t.”

“Then why the hell did you so yes?” Jasper finally asked angrily.

“I thought I was dating you to help Peri, and maybe play the field a little. And I stayed in it, because maybe I just don’t like myself very much.”

“I have feelings you know.” Jasper pouted.

“I know. But you never liked me for me, you liked the idea of me, the cute small girl that you could be a power couple with, but I’m not some demure follower. I couldn’t be in that trap you put me in.”

“You put yourself in it! You don’t know that I wanted that, you just assumed. We could make it work.”

“It’s over.”

“HA!” Peridot couldn’t help it.

“And you.” Lapis turned on Peridot, she tried to sink further into her chair.

“Uh, so, uh,” She spluttered.

“You can’t just break up with people for me by electrocuting them!” That was a sentence she never thought she’d hear.

“Ha!” Jasper returned, pointing at her like that kid on the Simpsons.

“And you,” she turned back to Jasper, “you’re just lucky she’s an _incompetent_ mad scientist.”

“Hey!”

“What were you thinking?”

“I just was thinking,” Peridot rubbed the back of her neck out of habit.

“Murder?”

“Die?”

“Okay, no, I _wasn’t_ thinking...but we had, you know,” Peridot did something strange with her hands, interlocking them and moving her index finger.

Jasper and Lapis paused and took a moment to stare at one another and then her, “parfaits?”

“ballroom dancing?”

“sex?”

She nodded her head furiously, “and,” she breathed, “I wanted it to, I don’t know, mean something. And I hadn’t slept in like three days. But I thought Jasper was the only issue.”

“She wasn’t.” Lapis’s eyes went soft, her hand gently reaching out, “Peridot…it meant something, it really did, it was me, it was all me, I messed up.”

Something clicked in Peridot’s brain, maybe Jasper wasn’t the whole issue and maybe, “you’re a jerk.”

She laughed,

“You cheated on me?” Jasper asked indignantly before Lapis can reply to Peridot.

“I’m very far from perfect guys. And I… I should leave.”

Lapis turned her back and looked to go, Peridot hopped up from her vantage point in the chair.

“Wait, I,”

Lapis looked back to her, both of them inches apart.

“I want to be,” she had to do it, she had to say it now. “with you. I really like you. I love,” she swallows the words, but they come back up like vomit, “you.”

Jasper gasped like she was in a soap opera.

“I’m breaking up with someone, right now, today." Lapis pointed out. “And you just tried to electrocute someone.”

“G-good point.” Peridot stuttered self-consciously, "but consider this," she had nothing.

Lapis stared Peridot in the eye and sighed heavily, “I like you too. A lot. Too much. Way too much. But it’s too soon. I need to work some stuff out, like why I would do this.”

“I,” She choked, “understand.”

“Goodbye Peridot.” She walked slowly to the door, her back to her, “I hope you do well on the final.”

Peridot sniffed and choked back tears, Lapis ran out the door.

Peridot hadn’t cried in years. She wasn’t that type of girl, she was serious and dedicated and she didn’t cry. She sniffed back snott, her eyes leaked, she was crying.

She wiped away tear after tear and made soft whines in the back of her throat until she spotted Jasper still standing awkwardly in the center of the room.

“Are you going to press charges? 'Cause that would _really_ complete my day.” Her voice was unsteady and cracked halfway through.

Jasper stood there sullenly looking at the floor, sulking if ever she saw it. She broke out into a sudden rage and stomped her foot on the floor.

“OR KILL ME? You’re not going to kill me?” She squeaked nervously.

Jasper eyed her like a piece of meat that complained too much on the platter.

“No. I’m not going to press charges,” she said begrudgingly. “I know what it’s like. As well as the rules of war. I lost.”

“Are you sure? I probably deserve it. Charges I mean. Not the other one.” She wasn’t sure why she was arguing against herself.

“No Peri." She smirked, "This will be a funny story one day.” Peridot doesn’t know what how to respond to that, there was no ‘one day’ for her right now. “Besides, I think this could be,” she chuckled lowly, “karma.”

“Hmm?”

“I haven’t been that great to you specifically."

“That’s for damn sure.” Peridot said more sharply, like herself, remembering all her food in the hall- it didn't get there by itself.

“Heh, well hey if you ever want to get a drink or I don’t know, work this out. I’m up for it.”

Peridot started laughing, manically laughing through her tears at the absurdity of this.

“You don’t have to,” Jasper responded bitterly.

“No,” she gasped for air, “it’s a good idea. I’d like that.. It’s all just, too much.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, laughing a little, “I guess so.”

She went back to her own room, “I won’t press charges, for now, or kill you...for now,” she smirked, “see you round Peri. Toasters yours.”

Peridot stared at the toaster, she sniffed, it smoked. She miserably wondered how things would go on from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You can’t just break up with people by electrocuting them,” is probably my favorite line in this entire fic lmao.  
> #sorry I kind of suck at writing, this was supposed to be more humorous than melodramatic


	10. Bleach

New Semester

Peridot combed her hair, straightened it, then combed again until satisfied, only then she flung it over her head over to tie it up in it's usually messy top knot.

She gave her nails a good scrub. She inspected her face, her glasses and the contents of her backpack. She was more ready than ever to be a full time student again in the wake of the fall semester.

She headed to class with the crunch of the first fall leaves under her foot, and two of her textbooks in hand.

She asked her usual rounds of questions in Data Structures and then proceeded to astrophysics, which she was just taking for fun and some science credits.

She was halfway through asking when to expect the first midterm when she caught the eye of a certain pink-haired TA sitting to the side.

Her words died in her mouth as they made eye contact, Pearl gave her a small nod accompanied by a serene smile.

The teacher cleared his throat,

“Yes, when is the first midterm?” She finished, he answered in promptly two weeks and the lesson wound down.

Peridot left at a brisk pace, trotting out into the physics department courtyard only to have someone call out her name.

“Peridot!” It was Pearl. She turned around very slowly.

“Yes. Hello.” She answered stiffly, Pearl caught up to her and approached Peridot with a smile on her face.

“How are you?”

“Good. I didn’t know you did astrophysics?” She tried to steer the topic conversation.

“Yes, I’m getting two masters!” Peridot raised her eyebrows in grudging respect for the women.

“Hmm, what are you going to do with those?” She inquired politely.

She chuckled, “I’m figuring it out. But enough about that, how did your ‘dilemma’ turn out? I must admit I’ve been curious for ages.” Her dilemma. She was worried Pearl would ask about that.

She shuffled her feet and stared at the ground. Pearl’s smile fell,

“Badly then?” She prompted softly.

“It uh, well, no, not well.” She paused, pursing her lips, “I fought but, hmm, maybe not in the right way.”

Pearl nodded sagely, “I’m sorry she chose the other person. It’s hard and can be very painful but we do move on.” She sings in a high-pitched, entirely unconvincingly, tone.

“Oh no, she didn’t choose Jasper. I just sort of… messed up? And she didn’t choose me either.”

Pearl tapped her finger to her chin, “Neither then. Did you try everything?”

“I tried, probably too hard, tried to electrocute someone, heh.”

Her eyebrows sky rocket, “electrocute?” She started laughing, “electrocute. That is a funny.” She giggled some more mechanically, like she didn’t quite do it often and it surprised her.

“Yeah,” she laughed hollowly herself, “a funny joke.” The coppers would never catch her.

“Well.” She finished, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She opened her arms sympathetically and walked towards Peridot, “no, no it’s okay! I’m good.” She wasn’t literally good, but still.

Pearl trapped her in a tight, if not uncomfortable, hug anyway. She squirmed as Pearl was whispered in her ear.

“It’s hard for girls like you and I." She reflected, "But smarts and competence can get you anywhere!” She pulled away, obviously trying to give encouragement in a motherly sort of fashion. Peridot cringed. “And if you do get to be with yours, tell me, I’d like one of us succeeded.”

“Sure,” She pulled away. “Though I’m not sure fighting was the way to ‘success’.”

She sighed, “probably. Maybe that was my problem. Maybe you’ll find another way.” She looked wistful again.

Peridot patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, trying to be supportive. She certainly had some type of relationship with the TA at this point. She hugged her back very gently. Maybe it was a little nice.

“Anyway, it’s good to see you in my class again. Come talk if you have any questions, astrophysics is my specialty.” She glowed.

“Yeah.” She agreed “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Peridot waved goodbye to Pearl as she walked to the library on campus, unsure about she felt, about recent events, Pearl’s advice, Lapis, everything.

She internally shrugged and buried herself in the books.

\-----------------

Two days later her life became far more complicated again. She logically knew is was inevitable, but she couldn’t make her heart ready through logic. Tragically.

She was stuffing a burrito in her mouth trying to get across campus in less then ten minutes when she spotted a blue halo of hair in the crowd. The crowd thins and yes, Peridot sees her, it had been two and half weeks and she still wasn't ready.

She was wearing a black blazer over a white shirt and a maroon skirt, talking on the phone heatedly.

Peridot resolved to sneak past her when Lapis stopped in her tracks and focused her eyes on Peridot. She’d spotted her.

Peridot froze, they stood feet from one another. It felt like time itself stopped, the backdrop of trees and wind floating the leaves to the ground in slow motion.

Peridot barely breathed as they made eye contact.

“Mom, I’ll call you back.” She said into the speaker.

“Pancake? Wait! Wait,” The voice said loud enough for Peridot to make out.

“It will just be a moment.” She hung it up.

Peridot stood motionless, waiting for her. Lapis approached like a wild animal tamer trying not to spook her. Maybe that was for the best.

“Hey.” She started loosely.

“Hello.” Peridot let the word slip out, heavy and weighted, landing on the ground to disintegrate.

“How are you?”

“Good.” She responded flatly.

“You?”

“Yeah.” Is all she said.

They waited, a leaf hit Peridot in the face, she shook it off. Lapis stared at the ground, and then back up again.

“Could I buy you a coffee sometime?” Lapis asked hesitantly. “I would like to talk. And maybe make up for,” she halts, “all of what happened.”

“Yeah.” Peridot agreed, “I’d like that.”

She nodded briefly, “I’ll text you,” she finished.

“I’ll be ready.” They pass each other in the fall breeze, crossing paths and only briefly looking back to make eye contact again.

Peridot finished the rest of her burrito, almost choking on it in the process as she made it to the engineering building.

\--------------

Peridot arrived seven minutes early to the Starbucks they’d agreed on. She ordered some sort of sweet frozen caramel drink and then sat down. She might as well try Lapis’s way with coffee.

Lapis arrived on time in a pretty blue sweater and matching skirt. Peridot does not stare. A lot.

Without spotting Peridot she ordered her drink and then looked around anxiously.

Peridot took a huge gulp of her sugar threaded explosion whatever, and then waved her over.

It was the middle of the day so the barista's were swift to get Lapis her drink and she sat down across from Peridot in quick order.

There felt like a lot to say, but nobody moved.

Peridot popped her eyebrow up, “Pancake? That’s what your mom calls you?” She said referring to the phone call.

Lapis laughed, “I know. It’s supposed to be like the ‘first Pancake’.”

“The what?”

“The first pancake, the one that always comes out a little wonky.”

“You’re parents...you're nicknamed after something 'wonky?”

She sighed, “affectionately, I guess. I was sort of a trouble maker. And they always said they could have done better.”

“That’s uh, huh.”

“I know. I know. But they’re okay for the most part. Now.”

“What do they do?” Peridot realized suddenly she knew very little about this other girl she had such heart break over.

“Originally? Missionaries,”

“Like from a, like a church?” Peridots family was _not_ religious.

“No, from a warehouse. Yeah, dummy. Catholic to be exact. My dad was actually the missionary, my mom was just really into the church. They met in the Philippines, and uh let’s just say they got married at 17.”

“The Philippines, are you from..?” That made sense to her now.

“Nah, they came back to raise me here, get their own place too with my mom’s folks support. Which was sort of a bad idea to leave them on their own, since it was just two 17 year olds raising a baby with just some faith and most of a highschool degree between them.”

“Oh my God Lapis.”

“No, no, it’s not like that, I mean it sucked and my brothers and sisters never quite got up to the level of running off and ruining family diners like I did, but it was a tough situation.”

Peridot laughed, she could see Lapis in her mind’s eye making raspberries in front of guests,

“I have some stories for you,” she commented, bumping her eyebrows up and down. “What do yours do?”

“My parents were salesmen. And er, a saleswomen. My grandparents were immigrants, but dad was just a guy who wanted to sell vacuums door to door. My mom did Maybelline and was a secretary when she felt like it. When they both felt like it.” She scowled.

“I take it,” Lapis hesitates, “they didn’t feel like it a lot?”

“We could make bonfires out of our bills. I mean, if we’re going to talk nicknames after I won the yearly spelling bee they called me ‘ticket’ as in ticket to ‘nice cars and fancy meals’,” she put her words in quotation marks.

Lapis giggled, “Sorry,” she backtracked, “just the way you said that.”

“It is kind of funny.”

“I never knew your parents were lazy salespeople, I had this weird idea they were really strict nerds.”

“No way, that’s all me.” She pointed at herself proudly, “I didn’t know you were religious though,”

“Oh no, not me. Too gay.”

“Were they mad?” She asked softly.

“Not like you’d think, they mellowed out as they got older, less closet time,” Peridot shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she should broach that. “they were just happy I didn’t want to take a hose and fill our house with water any more. Just kiss girls or whatever.” Peridot blushed gently.

“I take it that that happened often.”

“I wanted to live underwater.” Peridot smiled easily. “All the time”

“Heh, we never got around the childhood stuff… I guess we didn’t know each other so well.”

They go quiet, not making eye contact as they simultaneously took sips of their drink.

“Peridot, I,” she stopped, taking a deep breath, “I really messed up. I’m sorry.”

“Lapis, really, it was, a messed up situation. I should have handled it better.” She replied bitterly.

Lapis giggled, “I wouldn’t have gone to first degree murder as my first choice, no.”

Peridot goes red in the face, “maybe not murder, maybe a coma.”

“A light coma, yes, good logic.”

“Honestly, it’s hard to even guess what I was thinking at the time. And I’m me. I was so sleep deprived, and in,” her brain swims in circles, “love.”

Her eyes go wide, she’d said it, the alarms ring like church bells, she said it, she said it, she said it again. Why was she like this? Ugh.

She almost grabbed her bag and pirouetted away, hopefully into a volcano.

“I think that scared me. Erm, um,” she tries to formulate the words herself, Lapis is fully red in the face and staring at her own drink fixedly, “love.”

“Uh, Lapis can we pretend, I didn’t just-”

“That’s why I said yes I think.” Lapis asserted, “that and I thought I was protecting you.”

“From what?” She wondered out loud breathlessly, a little angrily.

“From Jasper. She was messing with your stuff and you. But I don’t think was really the main reason. It was, uh, how I justified it?” She seemed confused by herself.

“You can’t date someone to protect someone.”

“I’ll try electrocution.” She replied wryly with a wink. “But yeah, you’re right, you're right. And I’m still really sorry. You deserve like at least two free coffees. And maybe some laundry days on me.”

“I’ll take, maybe hanging out again...nothing romantic.”

Lapis’s face falls, “oh.”

“Or maybe…?” Peridot brightened up, hope welling in her chest. “No, it’s too soon.” She doused her own dreams.

“Of course! I wouldn’t want to push you. I did just toy with your feelings all over the place.”

“Feelings?!” She squawked, “what’re those?”

Lapis, in surprise, breaks into a genuine laugh, covering her mouth with her hand as she snickered.

Peridot smiled, it was the best feeling, in the world. But then her lips turn down at the edges

“But really. I think I did some things too. I pushed you too much. It might have been creepy?”

“You were obviously interest, as in really interested.”

“I never felt too much like, uh, this before. Towards anyone”

“How about spaghetti? We could try Pasta Pete’s together.” She asked excitedly.

“Unromantically? Or, you know, just to clarify.”

She bashfully played with her hands, “I really,” she went completely red, it’s adorable, “like you. And,” she gulped, “if you’re ever ready, if you ever forgive me. I would like to try again.”

“And?” Peridot is curious how far she would go.

“Date.” She finished in a small voice completely rose red.

“Pasta it is then!” Peridot grinned at her, pumping her fist in the air, she returned a small excited smile and the jitters returned in her gut in vengeance.

She downed her coffee in one enthusiast gulp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is either a) pasta date time (not written) b) straight to the epilogue! (already written) or c) a nitty gritty reboot of Laundromat in a post-apocalyptic thriller where sneople have a emerged to fight the unsuspecting average person (written in my heart).  
> All depending if I get the energy and school doesn't start too hard and heavy!


	11. Matching Socks

School Supplies

Peridot got a central table at Pasta Pete’s, she had bought a new green dress shirt for the occasion with an actual bow on the neck and worn her better slacks again.

It was a nice place, nicer for a college student destination at least. The waiters had bowties and the decor was neat and white in Little Italy style. The smell of breadsticks and Peridot’s nervousness perfumed the air.

She rearranged her napkin several different times before forcing her hands to rest in her lap. This was her first date in a very long time, an actual date that had been planned out.

A second one in her whole life after the night Bobby Springer asked her to get sushi with him that one time. And she actually liked this person.

She went over the conversation starters she had in her head: ‘what music do you like?’ ‘Why Marvel? Because I take some issue with that,’ ‘how gay are you you’d say? Because I am getting up there, like a 10 plus.’

“Peridot,” a girl voiced, she jumped, “getting places before me as always.” She teased almost ruefully.

She stood up like she’s spring loaded and ready for basic training in the army.

“Lapis!” She exclaimed, “you look lovely.” She was sporting a knee length dress with a tight bodice. Some clothing designer was getting a personalized thank you note from Peridot.

“You look wonderful too.” She reached across the table and straightened her collar.

“I brought you something.” She tossed her blue rose like it’s a bomb. Lapis laughed and caught it in her small hands.

“Wow, alright, this is awesome, and I’m being out done.” She fixed the rose in her short ponytail she was wearing, a blue rose accenting her already blue hair.

“No, I just, thought, well, there’s a flower.” There, in fact, was a flower.

“You’re sweet.” She started serenely,“I brought you something too.”

Peridot tilted her head and did not know what to do. Lapis went to sit down and Peridot rushed to push her chair in for her.

“Oh my God.” Lapis voiced as Peridot stumbled over to push her chair in and then reced to her own seat. Lapis got up on her feet, and when Peridot sat down Lapis pushed in her chair for her.

Peridot, running on autopilot, bolted up when Lapis returned to her chair and pushed her Lapis’s chair in for her again to retain consistency.

Lapis lightly rose to her feet and goes to push Peridot’s chair in, Peridot placed her hand to her forehead from their dumb circling of the table.

“Let’s just switch chairs.” Lapis suggested and Peridot takes her place at Lapis’s seat, no one pushed anyone’s chair in.

“Well that was an idiotic game of musical chairs.” Peridot finally said truthfully, regretting her life decisions.

Lapis gives a tinkling laugh, “you didn’t really think you were the man in the relationship did you?”

“I was hoping no one was the man, or else I’m in the completely wrong situation.”

Lapis puts on a gruff voice, “well little lady, how many kids were you thinking of bearing? Jack needs 13.”

Peridot gets up, “I’m sorry, I have to leave now.”

Lapis grabbed her shirt sleeve and pulled her back to the chair. “Come now, sit.” It sounded like genuine concern under the bravado.

“No worries.” Peridot tried to sound soothing, she took her seat again. “I supposed it would be very few, close to zero kids, if not in the negatives, an anti-kid.” Peridot answered her questioned.

“Really? I always wanted maybe one, two so they could keep each other company while go out at night to my extravagant parties.”

“Okay, party girl, you can drink cocktails out on the town, I’ll keep company with my 12 dogs.”

“I mean, I’d obviously be promoting my ocean research projects and making everyone in my vicinity uncomfortable by talking about how hot my wife is. Home with little Virginia Woolf and Child Two while I sip champagne.”

Peridot blushed ever so lightly on the topic of wives and having children and a future with someone. It was all too real, and hopeful. Twelve dogs it was.

“Child two?" She questioned.

“It’ll motivate them to work harder.” She expressed keenly.

“So you like champagne?” She tried to steer the conversation. “I did order us some wine if that's okay.” She admitted.

“Oh.” Lapis said in surprise, her face falling, “that’s so sweet! And like a real date, with flowers and wine, and oh gee.” It was Lapis’s turn to ramble, she sounded like she was going somewhere.

“But?” Peridot questioned.

“I’m only 20.” Peridot felt like an idiot, of course she was 20, she was a Sophomore. “But my Birthday is in a couple months!” She asserted. “So that is so close.”

“I am an idiot. Such an idiot. The worst kind of idiot.” She voiced her inner thoughts miserably. “I forgot, I’ll have to make it up to you.”

“It’s okay, you can drink it for the both of us! You were a funny drunk.”

“I think I insulted everyone at that party.” She remembered wistfully.

“Good. Keep all the creeps away tonight.”

“I would do that-”

The waiter approached with the wine, Peridot wanted to die, dramatically. “Ladies,” he pours Peridot a drink and then Lapis refused him politely.

“Do you know what you want to order?” He asked.

“Could you give us a moment actually?” Lapis responded lightly, finally opening her menu for the first time.

“Of course.” He said and Peridot tried to focus on figuring out what she wanted to order.

“Have you ever been here before?” Lapis finally asked curiously.

“No,” She conveyed, “Not big on fine dining.”

She gasped, “ _no._ ”

“Haha,” She replied dryly. “The Alfredo is good though, or I heard it was.” She checked the internet before she came.

They discuss the menu again momentarily before the waiter returned, they both order the Alfredo.

Peridot took a sip of her wine.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Peridot almost choked at her sudden outburst and enthusiasm.

"What?" She coughed hoarsely.

Lapis dug through her purse. She retrieved a keychain with a fat, happy looking cat at the end.

“His name is Pusheen, I saw that you had a lot of keychains, and this was cute and silly which reminded me of…” Peridot expected her to say ‘you,’ but Lapis apparently had a better filter for confessing her undying love than Peridot, “something you might like.”

She handed her the cute grey cat keychain. “Th-thank you.” She finally got out, she scrambled through her purse for her keys.

“Ah man, that looks almost full.” Lapis commented at her collection of small figures.

“No way!” She yanked off her Five Night's of Freddy's bear and placed Pusheen on the end. It was perfect. “I love it.” She breathed, “You noticed stuff I like.” And it’s true.

“Nah, it’s nothing, sorry if it’s so cutsey.”

“It’ll remind me of you!” Peridot on the other hand had a very thin filter.

“You’re gonna make me blush, it’s a gift for you, and like an apology.”

"Apology..." That reminded Peridot they had a lot of baggage between them, that this was still tentative. She wanted to say ‘it’s okay,’ and ‘water under the bridge,’ but she also wasn’t sure it was.

“I hear you.” She said instead and affectionately looked at the cat.

“Your food.” The waiter returns with the hot plates of Alfredo, it smelled like calories, white sauce and heaven.

“Thank you!” Lapis expressed and Peridot nodded along. “It looks great.”

“Yes, thank you.” Peridot contributed stiffly. The waiter pours them more water and fills the rest of Peridot’s glass with wine again.

“Did you know pasta was invented in China and brought to Italy by Venetian merchants? And it became the hallmark of their food.” Lapis said, her eyes sparkling. She takes her first bite, “oh gee, thank God they did, that’s fantastic.”

Peridot tried hers as well, concluding that Pasta Pete’s knew what they were doing.

“So they were doing it right.”

“Yeah, it became a drastically different dish, but turned to for the most calories.”  
Peridot was surprised at this side of Lapis, she seemed to know quite a bit.

“Were you connoisseur of pasta? Cause that’s impressive.”

“Nah,” she turns slightly red and Peridot felt bad, “I used to be a history minor. But it turned sour and I stopped.”

“What happened?” Peridot asked curiously as she slurped up the noodles.

“Well, I had a knack for remembering entire timelines. It’s actually how I got to know Steven. We met at a shop and had fun, and he asked if I could be a history tutor.”

“He’s a good kid.”

“You better believe it. Sometimes I’m sort of jealous.”

“Not everyone has Rose Quartz raising them.”

“True, do think she’d adopt me? I bet she bakes every morning and then goes to her biker gang and fights crime.”

“Quite a life. I could be raised by her. And Pearl,” She imagines the homework help, amazing.

“Pearl?” Lapis asked curiously.

“Yeah.” She shrugged, “I’ve warmed up to her.”

“That’s so sweet! A bird and her motherboard. Daughterboard.”

“Haha, you’re wit only increases.” She replied sarcastically.

“I could flick this at you.” She says as she sloppily puts it on her fork.

“You wouldn’t.” Lapis bounced her eyebrows up and down threateningly but puts it in her mouth anyway.

“What happened with the history minor?” She was genuinely interested.

Lapis moves her mouth all the way to the left while she chewed. “Got a bad teacher. She really pushed me, tried to get me to enter all these writing things, and I felt really guilty whenever I lost. Too much pressure.”

“You sounded good at it.”

“Bet your ass I was, entire histories in my head and Miss Diamond still wasn’t happy.” She sounded bitter.

Peridot perked up, “Miss Diamond?” She said in awe, “That’s my counselor.”

“No way, I forgot she did the engineering college too.”

“Yeah.” Peridot was afraid to admit she actually liked her, or liked her help at least.

“What do you think?”

Peridot gave her opinion very carefully as they finished their meal, trying not to reveal her positive attitude.

“...And she got a few of my classes waved. Though she is hard to get hold of.” She added at the end tersely.

“Only when she needs you does she contact back!” Lapis expressed aggressively, “ _and the shoulder pads._ ” She sticks her tongue out in disgust.

“You sound personally offended.”

“I am.”

They go quite as the bill comes and they stare at it. “Halfsies?” She finally asked while getting out her wallet.

“Naturally.” Peridot affirms, enjoying that she was dating a girl, a real life girl.

They wait for the bill to return patiently and then head out the door into the brisk night.

“Do you want to get dessert?” Lapis broached.

“They had gelato in there,” Peridot stated in surprise.

“I know, but this way sounded more fun.”

“I can do that.”

“Let’s just...walk.” They set out side by side, lights stream from the buildings and Peridot can feel fall in the air like a bright orange chill that threatened to overtake the city.

Their hands brush and Peridot’s heart thrums in her throat, she can feel Lapis’s eyes on her.

“Hey Peridot?” She murmured. “I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you think we’ll ever be like we were?”

Her heart sinks from her throat to the bottom of her gut.

“I’m not sure I have an answer for that.” She stuttered honestly.

“Okay.” She sounds disappointed, “but know, I’ll keep trying.”

That was good, it sounded good.

“I, uh, think that would work.”

She gives her a small smile and pointed ahead, “what about the doughnut shop? That’s right around the corner.”

She trailed after onto the next street with a neon ‘Donuts’ sign on the far end of the block.

Their hands brush again as Lapis slows down and feels herself jump.

“Sorry,” she whimpered,

“It’s okay.”

“Did you get your final grade yet?”

“No, not yet, she’s really slow, like you’d think there’d be a deadline or something. Be quick about it.”

“She is who she is.” She sighed. "All good things take time."

“You can say that again.”

They walk into the doughnut shop with the little bell tinkling above them as they enter.

“Welcome to the Big Donut.” Sadie said from the counter.

“Oh. It’s you two.” Lars observed. They approach the counter.

“Oh wait, let me hit the restroom, I’ll be right back.” Lapis fidgeted and then departed to the bathroom in the back, Peridot wondered if that’s why she wanted to come there.

Peridot stood and stared at Lars and Sadie.

“Sooo,” Lars finally spoke up, “are you two, you know,” he makes a kissy face at her.

“Uhh.” She goes a touch red.

“Lars, don’t embarrass her!” Sadie elbowed him.

“What? Everyone saw them on the couch together at the party.”

“Oh.” Peridot breathed, she had almost forgot about that, and how public it was.

“And then Lapis went out with J _ass_ -per and now she’s back to her I guess.” Sadie glowers at him, “What? I’m happy for them.”

Lars seemed to be in a bad mood, he turns to Lapis anyway, “I’m happy for you.” He pronounced.

“What are you gonna do next?” Sadie asked excitedly.

“I hadn’t thought of it.” Shit, “romance, I guess.”

“Take her to the park.”

“Yeah, chicks dig that, they’re suckers for nature and night time moonlight whatever.”

“You’re so bitter Lars.” She elbowed him again, but Peridot can tell somethings there between them. “Hold hands and look at swans, it’s so swee-”

A door closes and Sadie, who seemed excited for them both, closed her mouth.

“Hello~” Lapis returned.

“And I’ll have a bear claw.” Peridot said in a hurry to cover up they were talking about her.

“Oh, you’re ordering.” She approached the counter and peered into the case. “I’ll have a Long John.” They each get two donuts and pay up.

“They’re totally going to get together.” Lapis whispered to her as they exit out the shop, Peridot a bit unnerved people knew about them. “And have strangely average sized children.”

Peridot snorts, “who both look like fluffy haired poodles.” They snicker.  
They walked aimlessly into the night, putting the soft pastries in their mouths.

“Do want to got to the park?” Peridot got up the nerve to ask, since it was somewhat of a cliche.

"Sure." She smiled at her knowingly, “Want to try my Long John?”

Lapis offered and Peridot takes a bite of the sweet treat, Lapis looked on with interest, it felt like the snapping of a branch or the moment before it rains or lightning strikes.

They had into the greenery just in the middle of town, Lapis for some reason let’s Peridot animatedly talk about the Pokemon Silver game. She couldn’t help it, she caught a shiny.

“Anyway, my blastoid reached level 100, but I’m trying to get exploit this glitch to raise it above that.” Lapis nodded along and Peridot loved it.

“Want to sit?” She ventured, pointing at the iron bench face the lake. Peridot gulped, she knew what that meant.

Lapis preened her skirt and sat down, “nice view isn’t it.”

Peridot sat a good foot away from her on the bench and squawked out a ‘yes.’

Peridot drew closer though, Lapis scooted until their thighs were touching.

Peridot stared fixedly at a certain spot on the lake, a darker color than the rest.

“I always liked the nighttime.”

“Me too. It’s usually when I’m awake anyway.”

Lapis giggled, “of course it is." 

Lapis’s soft petite hand finds its way to her cheek and she turned her head towards to her,

"You're like a burrowing night animal." Peridot wasn't listening, her eyes are bright stars in a gloomy night atmosphere, peering at her over long mascara-ed eyelashes, full and suggestive as they flutter.

“Very you.” She lilted like she knew what she wanted.

Peridot wanted to lean in, for their mouths to press together, wanted it so badly it hurt, they were so close but memories swam to the surface like thorns, all the sleepless nights and Jaspers angry face, and she pulled back.

Lapis blinked at her in surprise, her hand hanging in midair, emptily.

“I moved too fast.” She breaths remorsefully.

“No, no, I’ll try- try again.” She lied to herself.

“No." She expressed firmly. "I won’t push you. We can keep waiting, I mean, as long as you still like me.”

“I do! I don’t know what’s up with me.” She said ruefully. “No, I guess I was just thinking of Jasper.” She looks down at her hands. “And maybe how I didn’t want that happen...to me.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” She whispered roughly, “that was a one time thing. I’m working, really, and I’m seeing someone for all this.” She points at her temple.

“You are? I mean, you don’t have to. Not for me.”

“No I wanted to, to talk about growing up and why, why I’d cheat on her, and not just do this with you to begin with.” Her voice is low and small. Peridot had never seen her so honest.

“Lapis...you’re fine just as you are.”

She laughed, “my counselor is saying the same thing.”

She didn’t know what she was saying, “I’ll be okay.”  
“But I hurt you didn’t I? I left.” She sounded strained, like the words were made of taught violin strings and painted china.

“Yeah.” She doesn’t lie. “But. It’s not over.”  It felt sweet and hot and too close.

Lapis sniffled like it was the night they met and she rubbed her eyes furiously.

Peridot leaned down and kissed her on her forehead, gently. Lapis leaned into it,

“Thank you.” She said, barely audible.

Before either of them could continue talking about these things called ‘emotions’ their was a sudden hiss. Peridot feels a spritz of water hit her back.

“The sprinklers!” Lapis started laughing uncontrollably until Peridot jumped out of the way and Lapis is hit in the face with the water.

Peridot laughed at her, Lapis bounced to her feet.

“Oh yeah?” Lapis leaned down and removed her strappy heels. She bounded over the bench and grabbed Peridot’s elbow.

“What are you-” Lapis turned her around and the sprinkler water directly impacts her chest.

“This is my nice dress shirt!” She exclaimed, but Lapis is laughing and everything is good.

“I’ll buy you a new one. I could definitely go for a dress on you.”

“Really?” She said in disbelief.

“Here it comes!” Peridot is distracted and picked up Lapis and used her as a human shield for the water, she squeals in her arms and squirms as the water soaks her.

She let’s her go and they run around in the water.

“Watch me jump over this sprinkler.” Lapis backed up and then bounded over the jet stream.

“Oh wow.” She said sarcastically, “every kid on the block is jealous. Queen of the grade school.”

“I’m ready for a new attitude.” She said hands on hips, “one involving utter amazement at my simple achievements.”

“Come here.” She chased her against the soggy grass, feet soaked and Lapis covered in grass.

They giggle and exchange pats and physical contact easily until they run out of the park and close to Lapis’s house.

Peridot ended up picking her up and carrying her home like Tarazan. 

"I am wet." She barked.

"Put me down, put me down!" She squealed. "I can get you a towel."

She laughed and Peridot placed her on her feet/

“Do you want to come in?” Lapis finally asked in a breathy voice since they had practically ran there.

“For?” Peridot can feel her heart speed up again.

“Towel. And you know, ever seen Brokeback Mountain?”

“Oh no way, too sad.”

“When Harry Met Sally, or hey 10 things I Hate About you.”

“Slow down chick-flick matriarch.”

“Do you want to come in?” She repeated.

Peridot gives her an easy smile, “sure.”

Lapis led her up her flight of stairs and into the top floor where she lived. It was cute and neat and orderly, sort of the opposite of Peridot’s tiny slice of slobbery.

“Whoa.”

“I know. Don’t be too blown away by the state of normal people’s houses.”

“Sure. You say that now, but when you need to lose something and never find it again in your house, who are you gonna call?”

“My hero.” She crooned at her passionately.

They smile at each other and Lapis slides in some nameless movie.

Peridot watched politely and their hands eventually touch, resting on top of each other and Peridot moderately felt the tug of sleep on her eyelids.

Their hands still grace one another and eventually clasp, fingers interweaving, and it was the little steps that mattered.


	12. Hand Washables

Oral Report: Two Weeks Later  


“And then the sisters have to find their parents with only a bloody hand print left on the dashboard of the car for s clue.” Connie Maheswaran described the beginning of one of her favorite series. They were at a bargain bookstore on the boardwalk and she had been disappointed they didn’t carry it.

Steven and Lapis were holding hands and getting soft pretzel at the dock. It was strangely domestic, but Peridot didn’t know what she expected when she invited everyone to the beach.

“And so they team up with Puck the fairy, who is very annoying to the heroine, and try to unlock the secrets of the Grimm brothers fairy tales.”

“Oh?” Peridot liked Connie, “do you have a favorite part?”

“The third book is clearly the best, a jabberwocky chases them out of an asylum and it’s hard to get better than that. Though the politics of the seventh book are important too.” She explained lightly.

Peridot nodded along with interest.

“Do you want to writer then? I was never very good at reading, though sci-fi was my guilty pleasure.”

“Oh no, I have no idea...I’m pretty good at tennis too.” Peridot picked up a dusty book and examined it, “oh but here, read this, it’s sci-fi, it gets pretty deep.” Connie expressed excitedly, she had been shy on the car ride over but opened right up at Peridot’s book inquiry.

She examined the cover with the boy in the spacesuit, “I could.”

“Great! I have some others too, let me look around.”

Peridot made a face of affection and guilt, she didn’t know how to tell the girl she barely had time to read, much less more than one book. But Connie got distracted,

“Steven!” Connie called when the two were returning with Pretzels, “come shop with us!” She waved them over.

Steven came up to them cheerfully and handed her a pretzel.

“Thanks!” She tried to convey to the boy with sincerity, if not some discomfort.

He chuckled, “of course.”

They stood by the beach and ate their boardwalk food.

“We won’t get food poisoning from this will we?” She inspects the bread for any street vendor cooties.

“Who wants to take bets that only Peridot’s is poisoned!”

The kids laughed and raised their hands.

“You guys pay my hospital bill then.” She returned and then reluctantly takes a bite of it. It doesn’t taste objectively sickening so she continued.

“Hey, Lapis?” Steven asked with interest as they looked at the tossing ocean, “do you know a lot about the ocean?”

“Well, I am an Oceanography major.” She said proudly.

“Also, a mermaid.” Peridot contributed.

“Shush,” she elbows her, “what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about what’s down there. Sourcream says he won’t become a fishermen cause a Kraken will eat him.”

“True.” Peridot gave a wry smile.

“You’re terrible with kids.” She whispered at her as she turned her head.

“Technically, Kraken don’t exist.” Connie stated factually.

“I guess.” Steven looked confused.

“Well, that is true.” Lapis confirmed, “though the ocean is still 90% unmapped, so we just don’t know what’s down there.”

“Really?” Their eyes go wide.

“What are you studying then?” Peridot arched an eyebrow at how little information they had.

“Possibilities!” She clapped her hands, and Peridot felt her heart do a little skip in her chest at her excitement, “and also the rising PH levels, growing superstorms and widespread pollution, but mostly possibilities!” She tried to make it sound better.

“That is pretty cool.” Connie's eyes are wide as she pushed up her glasses. Peridot appreciated how easily impressed she was, she remembered those day.

“Well, the ocean is super neat,

“Neat?” Peridot snorts.

“Just don’t use plastic bags kids.”

They nod their heads solemnly. Steven hops down from the railing near the ocean,

“Come on, I want to show you guys the arcade.”

Connie joins him a jog to the brightly lit game business, Lapis and Peridot follow slowly, a slight smile exchanged between them.

They went inside and played a racing game. Lapis naturally won.

\--------------

Peridot added the eggs to the batter and beat it vigorously. It was her second attempt since in her last one turned out exceptionally lumpy and she couldn’t get it to smooth out.

She beat it, and stirred, and groaned, wondering why people would do this to themselves on a regular basis. Cooking.

She sets her bowl of lumpy batter aside and stared outside, it’s dark, and only the thin sliver of moon revealed the tumultuous waves outside, tumbling and churning just outside the door.

She reminds herself to thank Connie’s parents when they got back, the main reason after all that they had come all this way again was because the Maheswaran’s owned a weekend condo there.

Peridot gets back up and stretched, reaching upward and then downward. She strained her back and then went back to the hot stove top.

She splattered the batter into the skillet carefully, or at least semi-accurately.

She started to feel a giddiness in the center of her gut. They would be back from their walk soon.

 

She was watching them fluff up like rising foam cakes when she heard the door opening.

“And then the doctor performs a horse surgery in the middle of the field! It’s so cool.” The kids were talking about one of their favorite shows.

“I saw that one!” Lapis affirmed. Peridot almost cringed, her almost-girlfriend had terrible taste. Which she didn’t know what that said about her.

“Uh-huh, and the horse comes back, only to go after the owner themselves, and-”  
“What’s that smell?” Connie interrupts.

Peridot immediately perked up and struggled to flip the pancakes on to the waiting plates. Geez, she only had enough for one for each of them.

Lapis is the first one to enter the kitchen.  
  
“Are you actually doing something in here?” She asked curiously.

“Uh.”

“Together breakfast!” Steven sang in the most enthusiasm she thought she ever saw for her cooking when he see’s what she’s doing.

“Yeah. That. Pancakes.” She gestures to the yellow-brown flapjacks, naked on the plate.

“I’ll get the strawberry’s.” Steven volunteered and Connie followed him to the refrigerator.

Lapis approached the dish with interest.

“Here, this ones yours,” Peridot gestures to one of them earnestly, “it’s the first one.”

“The first pancake.” She repeated with humor in her eyes.

“I thought it would be,” she pauses, ironic? She questions her own judgement.

“It’s perfect,” Lapis announces, clasping her hands together, “though frankly they all look like first pancakes.” It was true, none of them were a perfect circle.

“Well, they’ll taste fine, probably.” She replied lamely.

“Of course!” That was Steven, back with the whip cream and strawberries. “Can I decorate them?”

“Uh, sure.” Peridot was taken back by their enjoyment of her quick work.

“Together breakfast!” He said again like it was a thing.

Peridot, with nothing else to do, retreated back to the dining table to wait. Lapis followed, placing milk on the table and silverware.

“Together breakfast?” She asked.

“It’s a thing he does with his parents.” She explained, “and strangers, and friends, and now us. Who knew you’d win over Steven.” She smiled broadly at her.

“Uh, yeah, I didn’t expect that.”

“It’s ten times better than the pizza I was going to order.” She bites her lip and it’s a strange experience, like this normal, like life is normal.

“Pancakes!” Connie called out and entered with two plates in hand. She placed one down for Peridot and one down for herself.

“These look decent.” Lapis offered when Steven came in with hers, a display of whip cream and haphazard strawberries.

“They look great!” Steven reassures.

The food is actually pretty decent, especially with the syrup drizzled on top and some milk. They chat about the school year, and the cat Connie and Steven found by the docks.

They had named it Cat.

Steven and Connie thanked her for the meal and ran off to go play, leaving Peridot and Lapis to do the dishes.

Lapis washed and she dried.

“This is weird.” She finally piped up.

“Don’t tell me, this is an alternate dimension.”

“Maybe. I mean, I’ve been thinking about it all day, it’s so domestic.”

“Whoa there.” Lapis gives her a sidelong look, “I’m not so hot on this kind of commitment. Connie and Steven have parents, we can’t just steal them and live in domestic paradise, even if they are cute.” She teased her, she seems to be in that sort of mood.

“You know what I mean.” She waited for the next dish patiently.

“We can motor bike racing next weekend.”

She gives a low laugh, “can you handle dishes much less a motor bike? This is some slow service here.”

“Hey there, I am the one with the water leverage over here.” She flicks bubbles from the sink at her tersely.

“No way, we already did ‘get Peridot wet on a date’ thing.”

“Date?”

“Uh, thing. If you prefer.”

“No, no I like it.”

They lapse into silence. “Do you want to go onto the porch?”

She nods in affirmation, they put the last dishes away carefully and stroll very easily to the outdoors.

They sit down lazily on the porch edge and look at the ocean once more, the wood is surprisingly smooth against her legs.

“Do you think,” Lapis began slowly, “we’re still testing the waters?”

“Is, is that a pun?” Peridot asked in disgust.

“Well, you could say I want to dive in.” She laughed and Peridot leaned away from her.

“Is this going to be a thing from you? I remember the C comment.”

“I sea that you remember. Like the ocean. The sea.”

“Alright. I’m waterlogged, you got me, I give in.”  
She laughed delightedly and rocked ever so slightly in place. Peridot watched in similar delight at her crinkling eyes.

“No, but seriously,” Peridot straightens her face, “go on.”

“Oh, forget it, we can just call this the night I made puns and Steven and Connie were confirmed to be adorable and meant maybe for marriage.”

“I don’t doubt it, though friendship is good too, their young.”

“Friendship is great. Though everyone might want to move on.”

“Even if they had a falling out, yeah, I’d say so.”

“This is stupid.”

“What were you saying about diving in?”

“You know I’ve been ready. It’s up to you, if you ever feel, uh, feel it.”

“I mean…” She searched Lapis’s face, looking for something. It was sincere, but she held herself back, like a wall against a rapidly filling dam.

“I got you another gift, not to bribe you, just cause Steven pointed it out, and I won it.”

“From the claw machine?” She said, very flattered, and impressed.

“Uh, just all the tickets we won.” She retrieved a small stuffed toy from her bag.

“It’s a parakeet.” Lapis offered.

“Because I’m shrill?” Peridot asked flatly.

“No, because it’s green, and you like green, and I’m hoping you like birds.” Lapis looked at her lap and holds the green arcade animal out to her. It was real, it felt real.

“I think so.” Peridot leaned in, she felt it, and she took the bird from Lapis’s hands, she feels her heart pick up like a speeding truck. “I like birds.”

She leaned in and pecked her on the mouth, sweetly, briefly.

“And if you want to test the waters some more. In the real way. I’m in.” Lapis leaned in and kissed her again, a salt on her lips mixed with a syrup tinged softness.

They break apart, touching foreheads as they did.

“As in?”

“Go out with me. Like girlfriends. If you want.”

“Uh.” Lapis stutters, she’s red in the face. “I mean, I’ve barely done that before, I’m not sure, I, uh, will be any good at it.” Peridot had not seen her so uncertain of herself.

“It’s alright.” She grinned, “I’m not in a hurry.” It sounded stupid, but her head felt a little stupid in the head right now. She holds her breath as Lapis opens her mouth, and it hangs open.

“Yes.” Lapis nods and she leans their heads together again.

They kissed, and it all felt a little more right in the world.

Lapis was practically on top of Peridot when they heard voices leap up the stairwell followed by little feet entering the deck.

“We found Cat again!” Peridot wiped her mouth quickly.

Steven was there, carrying a red cat that looked like some of it had been dyed pink.

“Oh.” Connie’s faced dropped.

“This isn’t anything.” Lapis rolled off of her in a hurry.

“How could you fall on me like that?” Peridot accused heatedly, or tried to.

“I’m just sooo clumsy I guess!” She swooned in a high pitched tone. “Oops.”

“You’re a terrible actor.” She whispered through her teeth.

“We should get them married.” Connie said lowly to Steven.

Steven nodded, “like Sapphire and Ruby.”

Peridot turned to Lapis, “Do you ever find it weird so many people that we know have gem names?”

“No.” She said distractedly, “Now off to bed with the kids! Haha.” she was still embarrassed,

Lapis stood up and straightened her skirt, ushering the younger kids back into the house.

 **  
** Peridot lay on the deck, spreading her limbs out and considering how things could work out this time, that she could make them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for all the bad puns.  
> Anyways, thanks everyone for staying with me for this long! It's been a long journey.


	13. Epilogue: Laundry Day

The Final Grade: Six Months Later.

Peridot sat on her ass with a controller in hand, she was playing a post-apocalyptic video game: Stranded. You had to made your way off an alien planet.

She hears someone open the front door and stroll in.

“Hey babe, beat that third level yet?” Lapis asked casually as she placed her bag down on the hallway table.

“No,” She grouses, “it’s harder than it looked.” She double hit A and jumped past the crab like monster and onto the aircraft carrier.

“Agh!” She falls. “How was swim practice?” She asked as the game reloaded.

“Good!” She chirped, “I smoked some younger members at the backstroke.”

“That’s my girl. Queen of the pool.”

“Bet your ass.” She comes up and kissed the back of Peridot’s head, wrapping her long arms around her shoulders. She leaned into the kiss pecked against the side of her neck.

“We should go soon.” She whispered in her ear.

She reached up and tugged on Lapis’s damp hair. “You should shower first.”

“I’m not dirty.”

She sighed heavily and paused her game, “you can’t just walk around in the cold with wet hair.”

Lapis laughed, “You worry too much! I was made to be wet.”

Peridot arches an eyebrow, “Oh?” Lapis blushed,

“Yes. Like a seal.”

“C’mon. Shower time, sick seals are miserable seals.” She takes Lapis by the wrist and she led her easily into their bathroom. The apartment was small but comfortable, the bathroom handily attached to the living room-kitchen.

She took the bathtub lever and put the shower on extra hot, she nodded approvingly as the mirror fogged up.

She turned to leave as Lapis stripped down to her slick one piece bathing suit. She had joined the swim team to find some balance and it seemed to do wonders for her.

“Are you going to join me?” She purred, as she pulled down her straps.

“Nah. I’m perfectly warm.”

“C’mon,” she laughed, “it’s just a shower. God knows I should help you make up for all the times you missed one.”

“Hey, that doesn’t even apply anymore.”

“I’m saying lifetime wise. Plus, there is no point in having such a large tub otherwise.” She said in a sing song voice. They did have a large white aged bathtub with little golden clawed feet and room enough for three people.

“Fine.” She grumbled as she let her girlfriend strip her clothes off. She took off her comfy sweatpants and got casually naked with the other girl, it was strikingly unembarrassing at this point.

They kiss briefly on the mouth, stumbling backwards into the hot water.

“Okay, get off, get off.” She pushed her away as she gained her footing in the slippery porcelain.

Lapis climbed over her and they sat in the hot water amiably passing soap back and forth in a kind of a sweet silence.

Peridot got up and took Lapis’s shampoo down, she lathered it on her fingers and then rubbed it into Lapis’s hair as the other girl sat cross legged in front of her.

She hummed contentedly and leaned backwards with her eyes closed, pushing into Peridot's fingertips. Peridot massaged her scalp and gave a small content smile.

She only paused to trace Lapis’s back tattoo with her finger. It was a bluebird in the center of her spine and it never ceased to fascinate her.

Lapis turned around and shook the shampoo out of her locks in the downpour.

“Okay, your turn.”

“Aren’t you the one who's a stickler for conditioner?”

“Let me wash you.”

“You always use your fingernails!”

“I don’t have to use my hands.” She suggested playfully.

Peridot pushed her face away, laughing, Lapis pushed her back and they splash around in the bath, trying to one up the other.

They just end up falling into one another and kissing again, Lapis on top of her until they feel like stopping, and then lay together in the oncoming water, bare and listening to the other breath.

Lapis did end up lazily washing Peridot’s hair, and then her shoulders and her entire body. They kissed again up it until turns lukewarm and the hot water ran out.

Lapis laughed at her, “C’mon,” She quickly conditions her own hair, “God forbid we get cold in here.”

Peridot snorted, “you didn’t have to live with you a month ago when you got the sniffles. There was so much misery from one small person it was almost tangible.”

Lapis huffed, “you never know what you have until it’s gone. Such as breathing. Or hot water, like right now,” she grabbed Peridot’s hand and hauled her up from the tepid bath, “up you go.”

They trade off a towel between them and somehow no one ends up getting whipped by it.

Lapis looked in the mirror and started to reapply her makeup carefully as Peridot gathered their clothes from around the house.

Lapis had bought them real laundry bags instead of trash bags so Peridot placed them in there.

“Did you hear Garnet, you know the one from Quartz’s class, is going to open up boxing classes? I saw a poster for it.” Lapis said from the bathroom as she furled her eyelashes.

“Yeah?” She said as she sniffed a sweatshirt delicately, she jerks her head back, okay, that goes in.

“We should join!”

“What?” Peridot paused, “That sounds little above my weight class.”

“C’mon don’t you want to fight for my heart literally now?”

“I was hoping we were over that.”

“Boxing, boxing, boxing,” she chanted,

“Maybe.” She relented.

“Yay! And I’ll learn to fight for _your_ heart.”

“That match is already over. Which by the way, why the makeup?”

“I like to look good for a certain girl I live with.”

“Oh yeah? Is she hot, cause if she didn’t hear, I am taking boxing classes.”

“For sure?” Lapis expressed excitedly as she finished putting the rest of her clothes back on.

“Depending.”

“Well.” Lapis approached her slowly and helped dump her delicates in the bag, “this girl is super hot. The hottest. So you might have to take a couple classes.”

Peridot managed to blush despite all their months together. The hottest.

“Well, I’m not sure hottness can’t stand up to my right hook.” She jabbed the air in front of her, and Lapis laughed in a pleased voice.

“Let’s go, let’s go, Rocky. I have a GF to take out. And then like, has work.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

She giggled, “okay.”

They gather the two bags and head out the door. They get down into the chilled February air, a slight frost icing the normally warm city. Peridot bundled up in her coat.

“No, but imagine. Tall. Cool. Garnet, just punching people in the face. Punching _me_ in the face.” 

“What happened to this other girlfriends?” She teased nervously.

“In respect! You didn’t have her class, she was cool. Too cool. Especially for romance, wait, do you see her like that?”

“I mean,” she stuttered, “she was very attractive.”

“Gods don’t date peasants!” She asserts factually.

“Then how did this happen.” She muttered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“No, say it again.” She saddled up next to her on the sidewalk and poked her in the side.

“It was nothing,”

“Are you doubting our relationship again, cause I swear,”

Peridot sped up and jogged up in front, Lapis followed and poked her in the side again, they dipped and dove around the sidewalk, trying to avoid strangers as they play some sort of tag.

“You are so ridiculous. Goddess of bloodshed, maybe.” She kicked her in the shin. Oops, she did hear her.

“Ow. Yes, and fart noises.”

She laughed and pressed the heel of her hand to her lips and blew, _bfffff_.

An older gentlemen judged them as he walks by, they snicker and hold hands as they approach the old laundromat. Peridot had to stop thinking of her as a Goddess. She glanced over to her. But it was hard.

They picked the most well working washing machine and threw the clothes in one by one.

“OMG, I forgot you still had the blast-off panties. They’re so old.”

“Gimme those,” she jammed the spaceship underwear into the wash.

“Blastoff.” She narrates as they go down into it.

“At least I’m not just wearing strings, Lapis, these are just lace strings.” She picked up one of the blue thongs and waves it around like a slingshot.

“Oh you love it.”

She chuckled, maybe.

“Plus, their comfortable. A panty trade is in order.” She announced. Before Peridot can input her utmost distaste they spotted a young man standing mere feet from them.

He had floppy brown hair and a pamphlet in hand reading ‘Shakespeare in the Park (Unofficial)’ on it.

“Uh,” he said blankly as he looked like he approached to give it to them. They stared back at him, he was red in the face, he turned around stiffly and walked the other direction.

Lapis eyed Peridot, “okay, maybe less public panty talk.”

“Or maybe more. Keep creeps away and all.”

“He looked okay.”

“Pour the detergent in.” She complied and they started the load. “Well, if we comes back around I’ll nicely describe my explicit feelings towards Shakespeare and how I much I love writing.”

“Tch, the poor boy.”

They sit at the side of the room and play a game of ‘flashcards,’ to help Peridot study while Lapis made up answers.

“Beep, no I’m sorry, the answer is ‘my gaping mouth hole filled with cybernetic tech that’s possessed my meat body.’ Not going to pass Linear Systems, sorry babe.”

Peridot groans, “don’t even joke.” School got harder at the second half of Junior year it turned out.

“You’ll do fine.” She pat her shoulder sympathetically. “Next one!” She flipped over the card, “Who directed this 2001 prophetic movie about an IA? Ooh.”

“You hate me don’t you.” She groaned.

“No. All IA’s love you. Here to help you.” She replied in a robotic tone. Peridot gave her look, “and you totally will ace this! Smile.” Peridot gives her a reluctant grin, “there you go! I love that face.” She pinched her cheek then smiles brightly back, reading the next card more accurately.

They sat patiently and played flashcards until their clothes were ready, Peridot was depositing them in the dryer when a gruff voices interrupted the chore.

“Hey, Peri.” The ding of bell resounds as someone approached her, “up for that beer Friday?”

Peridot jumped, Jasper had walked into the small shop.

“I have a midterm Monday.” She responded hesitantly.

“It’s on a Friday.”

Lapis hid behind Peridot awkwardly from the large woman, things were good, but some things couldn’t change quickly.

“I mean, okay, but not too late, and I am not going to help you pick up chicks into all hours of the night.”

“Oh no, you were fired from being a wingman the second you pointed at me and said ‘look at those muscles’ to that girl. It was so poorly performed I almost had to leave the bar.”

“I saw no other redeeming qualities to point to.” Jasper snickered, she must sense how uncomfortable Lapis is and fist bumped Peridot.

“Okay, see ya round Peri. O'Flannigans at 10?”

“Sure.” She confirmed and waved her goodbye.

Lapis doesn’t make eye contact, she picked at the end of her shirt. Things weren't all the way 'over.'

“Shh.” She massaged her back and rested her head on her shoulder, comforting the other girl. They turn the dryer on, Lapis smiled faintly as they lace their hands together.

They walk back to their spot at the edge of the shop and whispered to each other affectionately, passing the time trading favorite TV show analysis.

The dryer buzzed and they collected the rest of their clothes together.

The walk out of the shop arm and arm, and Lapis tucked her head under Peridot’s chin, she wrapped her arms around her waist.

Her eyes flutter shut, “I love you.” She whispered into her scarf. 

“Me too.” She said back and kissed the top of her head, she smiled. “Love you too.”

They walk back to their apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand we're out. One last plug for my writing/fandom blog: http://insomniac-arrest.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you all for staying on this long! This story was really good writing practice for me.  
> I’ve never written anything so long (101 pages!), or popular (depending on how you count it) before, I appreciate all the support.
> 
> I won’t profess to always be the best writer, some parts did get away from me :I, but I did try my best! And I hope I brought some enjoyment to your day :)  
> Also, if anyone draws any fanart, please tell me! I'll put it in the story.


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